Do you know who murdered Dolores Della Penna in 1972? Dolores Della Penna, a 17-year-old high school graduate, was abducted and brutally murdered in Philadelphia on July 11, 1972. Dolores disappeared late at night while she was just a short distance from her home in the Tacony neighborhood of Northeast Philadelphia. Earlier that day, she had been spending time with friends and had plans to start her studies to become an x-ray technician in the fall.
She was last seen after taking a trolley home, where witnesses reported that she was attacked by a young man and dragged into a car (a maroon Chevrolet) as she walked toward her house.
Her disappearance triggered an intense search, and over the next eleven days, Philadelphia police worked tirelessly to locate her. Eventually, her dismembered body was found in two separate locations in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. Her torso and arms were discovered on July 22, 1972, and her legs were found nearby a week later. Her head has never been recovered. An autopsy indicated that Dolores had been beaten before her death, and her dismemberment was carried out in a methodical way, suggesting that the perpetrator had some anatomical knowledge. Furthermore, her fingertips had been removed, presumably to prevent her identification.
The investigation into Dolores' murder involved questioning hundreds of people, including many from the New Jersey Shore area where she had vacationed. Despite extensive efforts, no suspects were formally charged. Decades later, there were indications that members of a local drug gang might have been involved. Witnesses came forward, including an inmate who claimed that Dolores had been wrongly accused of stealing drugs and was killed as an act of revenge. Although these leads were promising, no one was ever prosecuted, and the case remains unsolved to this day. The circumstances surrounding her death, including the brutality of her abduction and the subsequent dismemberment, shocked the community and left her family without closure.
