Search continues for Logan Airport worker's killer, 34 years after gruesome discovery
Susan Taraskiewicz was working the ramp at Boston's Logan Airport almost 34 years ago when she took a break and disappeared. She was found the next day in the trunk of her car, stabbed and beaten to death.
The case soon went cold despite her mother's best efforts to keep it in the public eye. But soon she'll get help - in the form of a book.
"Never be afraid to die, for I am waiting for you in the sky," Marlene Taraskiewicz said Saturday, reading a prayer for her daughter.
Susan was killed on Sept. 13, 1992.
"Thirty-four birthdays have come and gone without Sue here to blow out her candles," her sister Debbie Almonti said. "Grief does not follow a calendar. There is no final birthday when you stop missing your sister."
They still don't know who did it. Her car was found left outside of an auto repair shop on Route 1A in Revere.
Since then, this picture of her has appeared on the news and on signs around the state.
"I knew her only as the beautiful girl on the billboard with the flowers. A girl whose life was brutally taken. I never forgot her," said Dianne Braley, who is writing a book about Taraskiewicz's death.
People held flowers at a vigil for Taraskiewicz, each representing one of the 34 years she's been gone. She worked for Northwest Airlines, and the aviation community still cares for her today. There's a $250,000 reward from Delta for any information.
Police say she was killed after leaving the airport to get sandwiches for her coworkers. Her mother told WBZ-TV in 2017 that she believes her daughter died because she knew about a credit card scam run by other workers.
"I get angry over a couple of the detectives that were at the airport, especially the one who kept telling, 'Susan, anything happens to you, come to me and I'll do something about it,'" Marlene Taraskiewicz said.
For 15 years, Marlene stood at Logan with a sign asking for information about her daughter. The case has changed investigators multiple times. Retired Massachusetts State Police Trooper Bob Murphy was the lead on the case for 20 years.
"I can say with complete certainty that this is not a cold case," he said. "This case is extremely active and more importantly, it has a very specific focus."
Marlene Taraskiewicz is not sure if a break in the case will come during her lifetime.
"I know there's somebody out there that knows about Susan. I realize that even to this day there are people afraid to come forward," she said. "I hope I'm up there with Sue and my son. They're waiting."
