Late in the summer of 1997, 88-year-old Walter C. Fedorwich of Peru, New York, was found dead in his State Route 22 home after a neighbor requested a welfare check on September 15. Law enforcement found him tied to his bed; his death was ruled a homicide caused by traumatic asphyxia and blunt force injuries to the head. The interior of the house appeared ransacked and a large amount of cash he was known to keep was missing, leading investigators to treat robbery as the likely motive.

Fedorwich was a retired construction worker known around town for wearing a cowboy hat and boots. He had poor eyesight and often used taxis or hitchhiked. In the days before his death he had been trying to sell vehicles, and one of the last reported sightings of him was at the end of his driveway talking with two unidentified white men in biker-style clothing who were with a dark-colored vehicle. He had also recently visited family in Rochester, a possible lead investigators considered.

The case remains an open cold case with evidence resubmitted over the years for new forensic testing, but no arrests or publicly identified suspects have been announced. If anyone knew Walter, saw those men or the dark vehicle, or has information about cash or vehicles he was trying to sell, please share what is known.