Evelyn Colon

Evelyn Colon was a 15-year-old girl from Jersey City, New Jersey, who was excited about becoming a mother. In late 1976, she was nine months pregnant with a daughter and living with her 19-year-old boyfriend, Luis Sierra. Her niece, Miriam Colon-Veltman, later recalled it was a different era, when a young couple in that situation would move out to start a life together. Evelyn’s mother stayed in touch, but one day she visited their apartment and found it empty. Neighbors told her the couple had simply moved away. The family later received a letter, purportedly from Sierra, claiming that he and Evelyn were well but that she did not want contact with her family. For decades, Evelyn's relatives held onto the belief that she had left to start a new life and would return when she was ready. Her nephew, Luis Colon Jr., said his grandmother would often walk the streets of Jersey City, always looking for her lost daughter.

On December 20, 1976, a teenager walking near the Lehigh River in White Haven, Pennsylvania, discovered human remains. Police responded and found three suitcases that had been thrown off an Interstate 80 bridge some 300 feet above. Two of the suitcases had broken open in the woods, and the third rested on the riverbank. Inside were the dismembered remains of a young, pregnant Caucasian female and her full-term, unborn baby girl. An autopsy revealed she had been strangled and shot in the neck after her death. Her nose, breasts, and ears had been severed and were never located. The body parts had been wrapped in a chenille bedspread and pages from a September 26, 1976, edition of *The New York Sunday News*, tying the crime to the northern New Jersey area. For more than 44 years, the victim was known only as "Beth Doe."

The Pennsylvania State Police began a massive investigation to identify the victim and find her killer. "Beth Doe" was estimated to be in her late teens or early twenties, with dark brown, shoulder-length hair. She had a small scar above one heel and two distinct moles on her face. Her dental records showed she had received care in the past but was suffering from significant tooth decay. Over the decades, investigators pursued every possible lead. Multiple forensic facial reconstructions were created and circulated. Her fingerprints and DNA profile were uploaded to national databases, but no matches were ever found. In 2007, her body was exhumed for advanced isotope testing, which suggested she may have been born in Europe and had lived in the southeastern United States for five to ten years. Despite the tireless efforts of state police and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), her name remained a mystery.

The breakthrough finally came through a family’s private search. Evelyn’s nephew, Luis Colon Jr., had never given up hope of finding his aunt. He submitted his DNA to several commercial genealogy websites, hoping to connect with her or his unknown cousin. In early 2021, the forensic genealogy firm Othram, working with Pennsylvania State Police and NCMEC, analyzed DNA from "Beth Doe" and found a strong link to Luis. Investigators reached out to him, and he confirmed his father had a sister named Evelyn who had disappeared as a pregnant teenager in 1976. On March 31, 2021, after 44 years, authorities announced they had finally identified "Beth Doe" as Evelyn Colon.

The identification immediately pointed investigators toward a suspect. On the same day Evelyn’s identity was revealed, authorities arrested her former boyfriend, Luis Sierra, then 63 years old, at his home in Ozone Park, New York. He was charged with one count of criminal homicide in her death. Prosecutors built a case arguing that Sierra, who was living with the pregnant teen at the time she vanished, had both the motive and the opportunity to commit the murder. Sierra’s attorney maintained that the case was circumstantial and lacked physical evidence directly tying his client to the crime.

After decades of questions, Evelyn and her unborn daughter, who had been buried together in a Pennsylvania cemetery under a headstone marked "Beth Doe," finally had their names returned. The legal proceedings against Sierra began, and he was ordered to stand trial for the 1976 slaying.

However, the case took another unexpected turn. In January 2025, the homicide charges filed against Luis Sierra in Pennsylvania were dismissed. After further investigation following his arrest, authorities concluded that the murder had not occurred in Pennsylvania, where Evelyn’s body was disposed of, but had taken place in New Jersey. As of early 2025, the case is no longer under the jurisdiction of Carbon County, Pennsylvania. The investigation into the brutal murder of Evelyn Colon and her baby is expected to be pursued by authorities in New Jersey, where her family continues its long wait for justice.