Mary Reker

Mary Reker was a 15-year-old girl from St. Cloud, Minnesota, with a bright future ahead of her. The oldest of six children, she was a natural caregiver who loved looking after her younger siblings and was a go-to babysitter in her neighborhood. Mary, who dreamed of becoming a teacher, was about to start her sophomore year of high school in the fall of 1974. In a diary entry written shortly before her death, she expressed a chilling premonition: "If I am murdered, find my killer and see that justice is done. I have a few reasons to fear for my life..."

On the morning of Labor Day, September 2, 1974, Mary and her 12-year-old sister, Susanne, left their family home on 18th Avenue North. They set out on foot for the Zayre discount store, about a 40-minute walk away, to buy school supplies for the upcoming year. Mary also hoped to find a new winter coat. Their father was painting the house as they left, waving a final goodbye. They promised their mother, Rita, they would be back early, but the hours passed with no sign of them. By evening, their worried parents contacted the St. Cloud police to report them missing.

For 26 agonizing days, the Reker family and their community waited for news. The search came to a devastating end on September 28, 1974. Two teenage boys, rock climbing at an abandoned quarry just outside St. Cloud, made a gruesome discovery. They found Susanne's body first, under a bush near the quarry's edge. She had been stabbed at least 13 times. A short time later, authorities located Mary's body partially submerged on a ledge in the quarry's water. She had also been stabbed multiple times. Investigators noted that Mary's bra had been cut up and some of her clothing was found strewn on a nearby cliff.

The double homicide launched one of central Minnesota's most enduring and frustrating cold cases, led by the Stearns County Sheriff's Office and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. In the early days, police retraced the girls' steps. A neighbor reported seeing them at the Zayre store around 1 p.m. and overheard Susanne telling Mary, "I don't want to go with that man. I don't like him. Let's not." Over the decades, several individuals were scrutinized, but no charges were ever filed.

One long-term person of interest was Herbert Notch, who was about Mary's age in 1974. In 1977, Notch was convicted for kidnapping a 14-year-old girl from a convenience store, taking her to a remote gravel pit, sexually assaulting her, and stabbing her. The victim miraculously survived and Notch was sent to prison. The parallels to the Reker case were striking. Though Notch was questioned multiple times over the years, he always denied any involvement. In 2015, as he was dying of liver failure in a St. Cloud hospital, the girls' mother, Rita Reker, confronted him one last time. He again denied killing her daughters. Notch died without ever confessing.

For decades, investigators and the Reker family held out hope that physical evidence would one day break the case open. That hope was pinned on a single strand of hair recovered from the crime scene. By 2024, with major advancements in DNA technology, the hair was submitted for advanced analysis. In July 2026, the results came back: the testing did not yield a usable DNA profile. In a final, heartbreaking blow, the hair—the last remaining piece of physical evidence—was consumed in the process, eliminating any chance for future testing.

As of September 2026, 52 years after Mary and Susanne were taken, their murders remain unsolved. Their family continues to celebrate their birthdays and keep their memories alive, holding onto the hope that someone will come forward with the information needed for justice. The Stearns County Sheriff's Office considers the investigation an active cold case. A $50,000 reward is offered for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Stearns County Sheriff's Office.