A teenager disappears on her way to work and was later found strangled to death
In the spring of 1985, a sense of unease settled over the community of Oceanside, New York, following the disappearance of a local teenager. Nineteen-year-old Jacqueline Martarella was just beginning to find her way in the world. A 1984 graduate of Oceanside High School, she was working at a Burger King, diligently saving money with dreams of buying a white Camaro. Friends and family would later recall her as a bit timid and withdrawn, but someone who was starting to come into her own, with a quiet strength and a hopeful outlook on life, summed up in her yearbook quote: 'Life is what you make it. Make the best of it!'
On the evening of March 26, 1985, between 7:30 and 8:00 PM, Jacqueline left a friend's house to walk to her job. It was a short distance, a walk she had likely made before, but on this night, she never arrived. Her disappearance sparked immediate concern among those who knew her. For nearly a month, her whereabouts remained a mystery, a painful void for her family who insisted she would not have run away. The search came to a grim end on April 22, 1985, when her body was discovered in a marshy area near the 17th hole of the Woodmere Country Club's golf course. The discovery confirmed the community's worst fears; she was found nude and had been strangled to death.
The investigation into Jacqueline Martarella's murder has stretched on for decades, leaving a trail of unanswered questions and no resolution for her loved ones. To date, no arrests have been made and no suspects have been publicly named in her case. Her death is often mentioned in connection with two other local cases from the same time period, the murder of 16-year-old Theresa Fusco and the disappearance of 15-year-old Kelly Morrissey. The similarities in the cases, including the fact that all three girls were walking alone when they vanished, have led to speculation about a potential serial killer operating in the area during that time. While there were arrests and eventual exonerations in the Fusco case, Jacqueline's murder remains officially unsolved, a cold case that continues to haunt the Long Island community.
