Anita Lias, 16, was found dead on September 1, 1975, in front of a garage at 862 S. Champion Avenue in Columbus, Ohio. She had been brutally attacked: her hands were tied behind her back, she suffered multiple puncture wounds to her upper torso and chest, and she had been strangled and stabbed. Responders pronounced her dead at the scene. Anita had last been seen alive on August 30, 1975, when she reportedly left home to go to a babysitting job.

Investigators reported no immediate signs identifying a suspect and no indication of forced entry, which raised the question of whether she may have known her attacker. The case has remained unsolved; the Columbus Police Department, Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Ohio Attorney General’s office have appealed for public tips and followed leads, hoping new information or forensic advances might help. If anyone knew Anita, her routines, or was in the area of S. Champion Avenue on August 30–September 1, please come forward with information.