More than a quarter of a century has gone by, and authorities are still seeking leads in the cold case murder of Susan Taraskiewicz in Massachusetts.
The 28th anniversary of the 27-year-old woman’s killing was Monday. Nearly 30 years after her death, Massachusetts State Police are as determined as ever to bring Taraskiewicz’s killer or killers to justice, officials said.
A $250,000 reward remains in effect for those who provide information about the case to authorities that leads to an arrest.
“We are certain there are people who have this information. Whatever reasons you have had not to come forward thus far do not matter anymore. Time passes, people and motivations change. Things that didn’t seem important suddenly do, and vice versa. Fears and worries shrink away, and pale in comparison to the realization of what is right and just,” state police said in a Facebook post. “It is long past time for anyone who can help this family, to bring some peace, and to do right by Susan, to step up and do just that.”
On Sept. 14, 1992, Taraskiewicz’s body was found in the trunk of her car, which had been left outside an auto repair shop on Route 1A in Revere. She had been beaten badly.
The discovery came a little more than a day after Taraskiewicz left her job as a ramp supervisor for Northwest Airlines at Boston Logan International Airport to pick up sandwiches for her coworkers. She never returned to her shift or to her home in Saugus, according to state police.
After her murder, Northwest Airlines offered the $250,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. In 2008, Northwest merged with Delta Air Lines, but the company informed Taraskiewicz’s mother that it stands by that reward offer, authorities said.
“So much time has passed since then. But the determination of the Massachusetts State Police and Revere police to bring Susan’s killer or killers to justice is as fierce today as it ever was,” state police said. “Detectives have not retreated one inch, and never will, from their desire to close this case and find justice for Susan and her family.”
Numerous calls over the years have gone out for information about the woman’s death. Marlene Taraskiewicz, the victim’s mother, has spoken publicly multiple times in the past decade, calling on people to come forward to help with the case.
“Please come forth, it’s not too late. It’s never late to solve a murder,” she said in 2014. “A murder case is always open. I am a very healthy woman, and I am not going away. You’re going to look over shoulder until the day that I go, but I will get you, and I will get justice for my Susan.”
Anyone with information about Taraskiewicz’s killing has been urged to call the state police detective unit for Suffolk County at (617) 727-8817.
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