Leslie Zaret

In the summer of 1974, Leslie Zaret was a popular and creative 17-year-old girl with a bright future. A recent graduate of John Bowne High School in Flushing, Queens, she was known for her great sense of style, her love for animals, and for being exceptionally funny and compassionate. Friends and family remembered her as a petite brunette who adored music like Led Zeppelin and Carly Simon, was vigilant about her appearance, and loved to draw. Leslie, a female, had worked as a day camp counselor and was spending the summer before college at a temporary job at IBM. She was looking forward to starting classes at Queensborough Community College in the fall.

The night of Friday, August 16, 1974, began like any other summer evening. Leslie spent time with her best friend, Laura Gold, at Gold's home on 58th Avenue in Flushing. Around 11:30 p.m., she left to begin the walk of about a mile and a half to her family’s residence on 68th Drive. Along the way, she briefly stopped outside a tavern on Main Street, hoping to see her boyfriend who worked there, but he wasn't in. She continued her walk south, passing her recently vacated high school. It was the last time she was seen alive. When Leslie never arrived home, her parents grew frantic, waiting through the night before reporting her missing to the police at 5:17 a.m.

The next morning, August 17, a school custodian made a horrifying discovery in the playground of Public School 203 on Springfield Boulevard in Bayside, about four miles from where Leslie was last seen. Her body was found lying naked on the concrete. She had been manually strangled. In a bizarre and disturbing detail, her clothes—a blue blouse with a flower print, jeans, and beige platform shoes—were found in a neat pile nearby. Investigators determined that while she had not been raped, she had been sexually assaulted with a hairbrush. The quiet, middle-class neighborhood of Bayside was left shocked and terrified by the brutal killing.

The New York Police Department (NYPD) launched an extensive investigation, interviewing hundreds of people. Detectives believed Leslie would not have gotten into a car with a stranger and likely accepted a ride from someone she knew. The crime scene was in a secluded area, known to be accessible through holes in fences and wooded paths connected to Alley Pond Park. Despite pursuing numerous leads and identifying several persons of interest over the years, the case went cold. The investigation, however, never truly died, in part due to the dedication of officers who were personally affected by the crime.

Decades later, the case saw renewed interest. In 2006, with the family's permission, Leslie's body was exhumed from Wellwood Cemetery in Pinelawn for advanced DNA testing on the evidence recovered from the scene, including partial DNA from the hairbrush. The case was championed by NYPD Chief Joanne Jaffe, who was a teenager living in Bayside when the murder occurred and never forgot the fear that gripped the community. "I remember the community being so overwhelmed," Jaffe later recalled. "I think somebody knows who did it. I really think there are people who know who did it, and we always thought that."

Detectives from the cold case squad have made public appeals, specifically reaching out to Leslie's former classmates from John Bowne High School, believing that conversations at a class reunion in 2000 suggested alumni might hold crucial information. Former NYPD Detective Mark Valencia, who led the investigation before his retirement, remained haunted by the case. "Every detective has a case, and this is mine," he said. "I could never rest until this case is finally solved."

As of early 2026, more than fifty years after her death, Leslie Zaret's murder remains unsolved. No arrests have ever been made. The NYPD continues to hope that advances in forensic technology or a long-held secret will finally lead to a breakthrough and provide answers for Leslie's loved ones. A reward of up to $12,000 is offered for information leading to a conviction. Anyone with information is urged to contact NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS.