A young woman’s body was found in a vacant lot on Seaview Avenue in Staten Island on September 20, 1991. She had been handcuffed, strangled, beaten at least 17 times with a hammer, and then set on fire. A bodywork-style hammer with Loyd L engraved on the handle was recovered beneath her. For decades she was known as the girl with the scorpion tattoo because of a distinctive tattoo on her right buttock.

In April 2021 forensic genealogy identified the victim as Christine Belusko (also reported as Christine Belusko of Clifton, New Jersey). That identification revealed Christine had a two-year-old daughter, Christa Nicole Belusko, who is unaccounted for. The last confirmed sighting of Christa was with her mother about a week before the body was found, at the Mount Airy Lodge in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania. No trace of Christa was found at the crime scene, and authorities say Christa’s father is unknown.

No one has been charged in Christine’s murder or in Christa’s disappearance. Does anyone have information about Christa Nicole Belusko’s whereabouts or who she was living with in 1991?