Crime & Safety

Fifty-five Years Later, Sister Of Maplewood Teen Murder Victim Wants Answers: Report

The Middletown resident's big sister was killed in Maplewood in 1966 at age 17, but the case remains unsolved, even after a book came out.

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — Middletown resident Cynthia Farino still misses her big sister Carol Ann, who was found strangled in a driverway near her family's house in Maplewood 55 years ago next week, she tells the Asbury Park Press in a story published on Monday.

Carol Ann Farino was 17 years old, heading home from her waitress job at Milt's Cup and Saucer in Maplewood when someone apparently forced her into a car. At the time, Cynthia says, there was not a lot of media attention on the case, and police were unable to solve it.

Farino spoke out this week to say that even though a book came out about the murder last year — written by Maplewood resident and Asbury Park Press reporter Joe Strupp — prosecutors and police still have been reluctant to give out information. She says, "There was this attitude that ‘Maplewood is sacred and we can’t shed any negative light on it.’”

Find out what's happening in Maplewoodfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

According to a newspaper story from Nov. 5, 1966, Carol Ann was still wearing her "white waitress uniform" when she was found by a family on Somer Avenue.

A friend of Carol Ann told the press that the teen had been followed by a man from Columbia High School to her job after school that day, but she told the man to "get lost."

Find out what's happening in Maplewoodfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Find out more about Carol Ann's last night here.

You can get breaking news alerts when urgent news happens in Maplewood, or a free daily newsletter at 6 a.m. each morning. Sign up with your preferences here.

Got news? Email caren.lissner@patch.com. Got photos? Please include express written permission from the photographer for us to use them. To be the first to get free news alerts with breaking stories in your town, or to get a free local newsletter each morning, sign up for Patch breaking news alerts or daily newsletters.

Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.