'It's Not Too Late': North Shore Woman's Killer Sought 30 Years Later

PEABODY, MA — Three decades after the body of 27-year-old Susan Taraskiewicz was found in the trunk of her car outside an auto repair shop in Revere, State Police investigators indicated on Wednesday that they believe there are those with information that will help confirm, and potentially prosecute, her killer.

Taraskiewicz, who was from Saugus and whose mother and fierce justice advocate, Marlene, moved to Peabody, was found beaten and stabbed a little more than one day after she left her shift as a ramp supervisor at Logan Airport on Sept. 13, 1992. State Police said on Wednesday that "for three decades — to the day — since that morning, the Massachusetts State Police, the Revere Police Department and the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office have ceaselessly followed the evidence wherever it has led us."

A $250,000 reward from Northwest Airlines — which was later absorbed into Delta Airlines — where Taraskiewicz worked is still available to anyone who provides information that allows authorities to bring justice to Taraskiewicz and her family.

"The detectives and prosecutors who have investigated, and continue to investigate, Susan's homicide have done outstanding work to advance this case to the point we are at today," State Police Superintendent Colonel Christopher Mason said on Wednesday. "We, along with
our law enforcement partners, are committed to seeing this investigation through to its only acceptable end, namely, that the person or persons who took Susan's life are brought to justice and that her survivors at long last know that their daughter and sister have been spoken for."

State Police indicated in a statement on Wednesday that have significant leads in the case and "there is more information that we still need to obtain or confirm before we can finally secure justice for Susan."

"There are people walking around today, going about their lives, who have that information," State Police said. "Of that we are certain."

There have been dramatic developments in multiple long-standing unsolved cases — often called "cold cases" — in the state in recent months.

In April, the Essex County District Attorney's Office made an arrest in the 34-year-old murder of 11-year-old Melissa Ann Tremblay, the Salem NH girl whose body was found severed between two trains in a Lawrence rail yard on Sept. 12, 1988.

Last month, the Essex DA's Office indicted a North Shore man accused of the 1986 killing of 20-year-old Salem State student Claire Gravel, whose body was found on the northbound side of Route 128 in Beverly near the Wenham line a day after she disappeared near campus.

"We make a plea to anyone who can help us cross the last few miles of this marathon investigation," State Police said. "If you have any information about Susan‘s murder or the person or people who may have been involved, please contact us. Whatever reason you had for remaining silent until now doesn't matter anymore. Time passes, and people change. Maybe you were scared. Maybe you were protecting someone, or maybe you just did not want to get involved in a police investigation.

"Yet time passes, and people change. So, too, do priorities, and the reasons for keeping quiet maybe don't seem so important anymore. Not when compared to the chance to do the right thing before it's too late.

"And it's not too late."

Anyone with such information is asked to call the State Police Detective Unit for Suffolk County at 617-727-8817.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)