On December 20th, 1976, Pennsylvania police responded to the scene of one of the most disturbing, grisly and haunting crimes in the history of the state. Three suitcases, spray painted black, were thrown from the bridge of i80, landing next to the Lehigh river down below. Inside were the mutilated and dismembered remains of a young woman and her unborn child. While almost all of the body was recovered, the killer had removed her breasts, nose and ears and they have never been found. For forty-five years investigators tried to solve the mystery of who killed the woman, referred to as the Carbon County Beth Doe, and what her true identity was.

UPDATE - IDENTIFIED - ARREST MADE

In late March, 2021, Pennsylvania authorities announced that they had positively identified the Carbon County Beth Doe as Evelyn Colon, a fifteen year old young woman who vanished from Jersey City, New Jersey in December of 1976. They were able to identity Evelyn through the use of genetic genealogy when they got a match to her nephew, Luis Colon, Jr.

On March 31st, 2021, Pennsylvania State Troopers announced the arrest of sixty-three year old Queens, New York resident Luis Sierra. In 1976, Sierra was nineteen years old, the father of Evelyn’s child and her boyfriend. The two lived together in an apartment until mid-December when Evelyn vanished. Sierra never spoke to her family, nor did he make attempts to find her. No missing person’s report was ever filed.

In January of 1977, Evelyn’s family received a letter explaining that she and Sierra had moved to Connecticut. It also specified that Evelyn had given birth to a 9lbs baby boy. Believing Evelyn had moved on and didn’t wish to maintain contact with her family, they begrudgingly accepted the situation, at first. As years went by, however, Evelyn’s family began searching for her only to discovery, more than four decades later, that she was the victim of a brutal and violent murder.

As it currently stands, Sierra is awaiting extradition to Pennsylvania while he sits in a New York jail. Sierra denied involvement in the crime and told investigators that, as far as he knew, Evelyn left him and went back to her family.

As a result of this breaking news, Evelyn’s family are now hoping to gather enough money to have her remains moved, a headstone created and to hold a memorial for her. If you wish to contribute to that fund, please visit The Official “Beth Doe” Evelyn Colon Memorial Fund.