Theresa Rose Rodger was 17 when she left her Brooklyn home on a Wednesday morning in October 1971 with four dollars and words for her mother that she would buy a blouse and look for a part-time waitressing job in Bay Ridge. She did not return. Her body was found a little over 24 hours later, on October 20, 1971, on the rooftop of the Gowanus Housing Authority project at 198 Bond Street, about half a mile from her home.

The rooftop scene showed a violent struggle. Theresa’s hands had been tied with a strip torn from her own brown blouse, her knees were bound with her corduroy slacks, and her ankles were tied with her shoelaces; she had been gagged with her bra. An initial assessment suggested a cut throat, but the medical examiner ruled the cause of death strangulation with a wire that severed her jugular vein. She also suffered multiple stab wounds to the chest and abdomen. Investigators found no evidence of sexual assault and were reported to have considered robbery a possible motive, believing she resisted and may have been overpowered by multiple assailants, possibly a group of girls. No arrests were ever announced and the case remains unsolved.

Does anyone remember Theresa that October in Bay Ridge or have information that could help finally close this case?