In March of 1982, the life of 16-year-old Paula Perrera, a White/Caucasian female, was tragically cut short. A student at Valley Central High School, Perrera was known for her bubbly and carefree nature. On what would be her last day, she left school early feeling unwell and decided to hitchhike to her boyfriend's house, a common practice for her despite the concerns of those who cared for her.
It was on this fateful ride that she encountered Michael Bruce Ross, a Cornell University student who would later be identified as a prolific serial killer.
Paula's trust in the kindness of strangers proved to be fatally misplaced. Ross abducted the teenager, and her body was discovered 18 days later in a marshy area off a road. The investigation revealed she had been brutally raped and strangled. For years, her case remained a painful mystery for her family and community, a cold case with no apparent leads.
The break in the investigation came years later when Michael Bruce Ross, already convicted of other murders, began to confess to a string of killings. In the fall of 2000, he was officially charged with Paula Perrera's murder. Ross eventually pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in her death. He was a serial killer responsible for the deaths of at least eight young women in Connecticut and New York between 1981 and 1984. His string of violent crimes ended with his arrest, and he was ultimately executed for his horrific acts in May 2005.
