NY NY - Sylvia Lwowski, 22, Staten Island, 6 Sept 1975 - #1

[Odyssey]

I don't know if, in Staten Island, they would have resources that they could devote to just cold cases these days. My policeman works in a busy ( crime-wise) city outside of NYC, and they definitely do not have those kind of resources. NYC may, though

NYC does have a cold case squad.

I sent them an email awhile back trying to clarify something on another case, the info I was reading just wasn't matching up... and I also offered to assist with trying to locate the victims family, since an article had said police were trying to locate them to get a dna sample. I thought I might know some people who would have gone to school with her...

they never even replied.

 

[Jmoose]

NYC does have a cold case squad.

I sent them an email awhile back trying to clarify something on another case, the info I was reading just wasn't matching up... and I also offered to assist with trying to locate the victims family, since an article had said police were trying to locate them to get a dna sample. I thought I might know some people who would have gone to school with her...

they never even replied.

Wow-I do think that there is someone who is pursuing info on this case- but the police don't seem too impressed, to just ignore you like that! In other cases, outside of NY, peope have contacted LE and gotten very courteous responses. It is bizarre the way that police have managed this case!

 

[Odyssey]

Wow-I do think that there is someone who is pursuing info on this case- but the police don't seem too impressed, to just ignore you like that! In other cases, outside of NY, peope have contacted LE and gotten very courteous responses. It is bizarre the way that police have managed this case!

Just to clarify, the email I sent them was not about this case... but yeah, it's the same department.

OT
And I wish my dog would stop putting her big head on my laptop keyboard while I'm trying to type! Argh! Does it look like a pillow or something?

 

[gajonka]

Some further observations after reading the excellent input from everyone, here. The fleshing out of this era and location are taking shape. Even though it doesn’t seem like this woman could still be alive, she well might be.

• Viet Nam American exit 1973-1975. -

• Drinking age- 18 in 1974, disco era in full swing but big clubs like Studio 54, Mudd Club, etc. opened in the late 70’s. -Dancing was big time fun back then.

• Roe vs Wade – 1973. Abortion is a still a hot bed of controversy, today but back then it was total heartbreak, compounded with shame decision. Could Sylvia’s first abortion compel her to become engaged to quell the “shame” of her family, and society’s shame? She was pregnant at the time of her disappearance? (Sorry if I am dense). This was a very confusing time for women, men, and especially traditional families. Things like living out of wedlock and abortion tore some families apart.

IMO -I feel a more filled out portrait of Sylvia’s family and friends will give some clues. (all imo)

• -Her father. Perhaps a really complex relationship here, drinking, inappropriate behavior at party is contrasted with disciplined, contained military training. Father is a military man. -Traditional family? -Strong feelings about counter culture? This divide was so great, some kids were excommunicated from their families if they didn’t ‘straighten up and fly right’.

• -Her mother. What was her relationship like with her mother? Could she talk to her mom about her troubles? Or was she passive in deference to her father? (My mother was my rock and as wild as I was back then I know I could never have broken her heart and run away, forever.)

• -Her brother, younger? Were they close? Dushi, how would one even go about inviting him to a WS discussion? I wouldn’t even know what to say?

• -Her friends. Could they help give a sense of Sylvia’s assertiveness or timidity? Would they protect her? In my short-term rebellious “run-aways”--afternoons, overnights, etc., my friends would never divulge my whereabouts!

• -Her fiancé. I was struck by the quoted language of his description of what happened that night to LE. Did he really talk like that? (“wuz, cuz”) It seems incongruous as he was a Music Ed. Major at NYU?

Sylvia was a beautiful woman in an era of free thinkers, new directions, philosophy and religion. Romance is everywhere. How did her fiancé handle the advances of other men?

I am pretty amazed at how many of us are in Sylvia’s age group. I remember those times as completely tumultuous and creatively brilliant. Those were the days….

Thank you all for your patience. The Gajonka is back. The WS site's founders designed the site to promote a forum where justice can be achieved. I believe, with all my heart, that we are doing just that. Coming soon with more info. Time to hit more facts.

Tha Gajonka.

 

[GoingByMyGut]

Yes!!! March 13th!

No way ... seriously? LOL. I love that! Did your relish the fact that it was 03/13/13? Or I am going too far out on a dweeb limb with that one ...?

artyguy:

 

[Jmoose]

No way ... seriously? LOL. I love that! Did your relish the fact that it was 03/13/13? Or I am going too far out on a dweeb limb with that one ...?

artyguy:

No, I also liked that!

 

[gajonka]

This may be off the wall, and I may have missed this in the messages, but do we know if her mom and brother were home at that time - early evening?

Is it possible she went home.

She was already mad at her BF. Maybe coming home and seeing her father drinking reminded her of the episode a few days before and they got into a fight and she ended up dead.

May be why the mother didn't want any publicity - but needed to report her missing or it would look suspicious.

What kind of publicicity could LE really effect anyway, were they going torun commercials in the local area? Were they going to place a missing poster on a phone pole? It's a non-issue, IMO\.

 

[Dushi]

Wow-I do think that there is someone who is pursuing info on this case- but the police don't seem too impressed, to just ignore you like that! In other cases, outside of NY, peope have contacted LE and gotten very courteous responses. It is bizarre the way that police have managed this case!

There are cases where information has come forth years after a crime and solved cold cases

Something unsettling about that remark... will not handle... why?

When a case becomes a cold case, is it given to a detective or group of detectives?
Is it passed down as LE retires?

Or is it left in a file to gather dust and only brought out if inquiries are made?

 

[Odyssey]

What kind of publicicity could LE really effect anyway, were they going torun commercials in the local area? Were they going to place a missing poster on a phone pole? It's a non-issue, IMO\.

Yes! People might have remembered seeing her walking or something and then we'd know that she did get out of the car on her own will...

 

[Dushi]

What kind of publicicity could LE really effect anyway, were they going torun commercials in the local area? Were they going to place a missing poster on a phone pole? It's a non-issue, IMO\.

Its certainly not like today, with FB etc
I really don't know what publicity would be in 1975

 

[Dushi]

I believe if they thought she was missing endangered , they would have investigated one way, aggressively

But if they thought she went missing voluntarily, they would not look that hard

 

[Jmoose]

:what:

What kind of publicicity could LE really effect anyway, were they going torun commercials in the local area? Were they going to place a missing poster on a phone pole? It's a non-issue, IMO\.

Yes, I guess publicity is relative to the time. The resources were very different then- no Websleuths, AMW, etc. It certainly does look, though, like the police took "no publicity" to mean "just forget about it"

 

[rosemadderlake]

I'm not sure it's relevant, but another milestone: 1972 = Title IX
My high school "birthed" girls' soccer and basketball teams overnight.

Re the part BBM: I remember an awful lot of this. My best friend was always fleeing her father's hand. And these crumbling relationships -- the gulf between old and new ways of thinking -- were the primary reason for the runaway culture.

bbm: Ms. Magazine - feminist magazine founded in 1972 by Gloria Steinem.

 

[rosemadderlake]

Originally Posted by Jmoose View Post
Yes!!! March 13th!

GoingByMyGut[--No way ... seriously? LOL. I love that! Did your relish the fact that it was 03/13/13?[/B] Or I am going too far out on a dweeb limb with that one ...?

artyguy:

Bbm: --Omg… 03.13.13 - All right, what are the coincidences of that?

HB Jmoose & GBMG!!


The Night Owl
--fellow water sign…

 

[rosemadderlake]

Thank you all for your patience. The Gajonka is back. The WS site's founders designed the site to promote a forum where justice can be achieved. I believe, with all my heart, that we are doing just that. Coming soon with more info. Time to hit more facts.

Tha Gajonka.

Bbm - IMO - A sensitive inquiry is possible with this assembled group on board....

The Night Owl

 

[Odyssey]

I thought of another possible reason why not much attention would have been given to her disappearance.

I think the mid-70's were the height of the problems in the Bronx - the drugs, arsons, shootings, muggings, etc. Although it's a different borough, it's still part of NYC and probably took up a great deal of the department's resources.

Maybe a missing adult from Staten Island just wasn't as pressing.

 

[alliemay]

Do we know yet if she was classified ?

 

[Dragonfyree]

What kind of publicicity could LE really effect anyway, were they going torun commercials in the local area? Were they going to place a missing poster on a phone pole? It's a non-issue, IMO\.

Back in that time, things rarely went to the national news, but there was usually a lot of publicity locally. I am thinking Staten Island didn't have young girls disappearing every day that it would be on the local news and in the newspaper.

Since this happened, I believe on a Saturday night, early in the evening, there were a lot of people out. Back in the 70's every one was out and about on Saturday nights. There wasn't all this electronic stuff to do at home.

Being on the news might have jogged the peoples memory who were around where they were parked. Did they see something. Did someone see her walking away. Maybe hitchhiking. Getting into another car. Maybe she stopped somewhere, a gas station, a store, etc. Maybe the neighbors saw her coming home. Maybe someone saw her BF's car out somewhere where he shouldn't have been.

Where they were parked, were they close to restaurants, stores, etc. where hundreds of people might have been.

No publicity means most of these people probably didn't even know someone had disappeared or that they might have seen something which would be helpful in the investigation.

LE could have provided pictures of her, of her BF, of his car. The area where she was last seen. What she was wearing, etc. We don't know if any of this was put out to the press.

 

[Jmoose]

Back in that time, things rarely went to the national news, but there was usually a lot of publicity locally. I am thinking Staten Island didn't have young girls disappearing every day that it would be on the local news and in the newspaper.

Since this happened, I believe on a Saturday night, early in the evening, there were a lot of people out. Back in the 70's every one was out and about on Saturday nights. There wasn't all this electronic stuff to do at home.

Being on the news might have jogged the peoples memory who were around where they were parked. Did they see something. Did someone see her walking away. Maybe hitchhiking. Getting into another car. Maybe she stopped somewhere, a gas station, a store, etc. Maybe the neighbors saw her coming home. Maybe someone saw her BF's car out somewhere where he shouldn't have been.

Where they were parked, were they close to restaurants, stores, etc. where hundreds of people might have been.

No publicity means most of these people probably didn't even know someone had disappeared or that they might have seen something which would be helpful in the investigation.

LE could have provided pictures of her, of her BF, of his car. The area where she was last seen. What she was wearing, etc. We don't know if any of this was put out to the press.

It sounds to me like none of this information went out to the press at all. I haven't been able, yet, to find any kind of newspaper articles of any kind, that reference Sylvia's disappearance. Looks like the investigation stopped at the point of the mother's filing of the missing person report.

 

[rosemadderlake]

It sounds to me like none of this information went out to the press at all. I haven't been able, yet, to find any kind of newspaper articles of any kind, that reference Sylvia's disappearance. Looks like the investigation stopped at the point of the mother's filing of the missing person report.

LE may not be able to pursue it because she is an adult? --in reading through police volunteers.org: bbm are a couple of reasons why. Also, on the police report one detective writes 'can not handle' something to that effect. I wonder why?


Adults
Missing adults tend to draw less attention, making it difficult for loved ones to get the assistance they need in locating them. Missing adult cases also vary in terms of the circumstances surrounding the disappearance.

Adults can walk away from their lives willingly. These cases can present challenges if the family reports them missing, but the missing adult informs law enforcement that they do not wish to be found. In addition, adults (as well as children) with developmental disorders are prone to wandering away and not finding their way back. Finally, accidents or suspicious activities can trigger missing person reports. Often those missing person reports become homicides investigations, cold case missing person investigations, or unidentified body investigations.

http://www.policevolunteers.org/resources/pdf/missing-persons.pdf