Gaetana Donna Serra was 17 when she disappeared from outside South Lake High School in St. Clair Shores, Michigan, on the rainy afternoon of September 29, 1972. She spoke briefly with her sister Kathy before vanishing; plans to visit a Lake St. Clair beach were never fulfilled and she did not return home.

Her body was found by pheasant hunters on October 20, 1972, in a shallow creek in Ray Township, northern Macomb County. She was fully clothed in the clothes she had worn that day. Investigators concluded she had been held captive for several days and toxicology showed barbiturates in her system. Cause of death was strangulation, reportedly using a lace from one of her boots.

Detectives have pursued numerous leads over the decades, including possible links to other regional cases and a theory that the offender may have had military ties or left the area, but no one has been charged. Anyone who knew Donna, saw her on September 29, 1972, or has information about her abduction and killing is asked to come forward.