Dana Bailey was a 21-year-old Penn State senior and waitress who was murdered in State College, Pennsylvania, in early March 1987. She had returned to her second-floor Allen Street apartment after visiting her fiancé in Washington, D.C. When her mother found her the next day, an autopsy showed she had died from multiple stab wounds. The murder weapon was a steak knife taken from Bailey’s own kitchen.

Investigators concluded an intruder forced entry between March 4 and 5, likely having watched Bailey from a nearby building under renovation. Evidence indicates the suspect climbed in through a cut kitchen window, using a bucket to reach the sill; shoe prints were recovered both from the surveillance location and inside the apartment. Hundreds of leads were processed but no viable suspect was identified, and the case later went cold. An anonymous letter naming two people arrived in December 2003; both were interviewed but no connection was established and the letter’s author never came forward. A reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

If anyone knew Dana, saw suspicious activity near Allen Street in March 1987, or has information about the anonymous letter, please come forward.