Flashback: Murders in Nyack Remain Unsolved

The brings back the stark reality that our community is not immune to the horrendous actions of one human being against another. Over the years, a number of murders have captured the news headlines like the events of the past week. Unfortunately, the Nyack area has its share of unsolved murders, too:

Sunday, March 1, 1970: Late in the afternoon a group of hikers discovered the nude body of a young woman in the woods immediately west of Tweed Boulevard along a hiking trail near the old Camp Bluefields water tower. Marks about her neck indicated to acting South Nyack Police Chief Raymond Will that the beautiful young girl was strangled. Authorities later calculated she had been dead for about 48 hours. Police guessed the woman was in her mid-twenties. She weighed about 105 pounds and was described as Latin-type. It was a week later when through the efforts of the Rockland County Bureau of Identification and the FBI; she was identified as Lorraine Montalvo McCraw. She was 26 and lived in Long Island City. McGraw had a long record for narcotic and prostitution arrests; a number of her arrests were recorded with fictitious names. Police were able to discover McGraw “worked” in various clubs, bars and adult establishments along Route 9W in Rockland Lake and Congers. For a time police looked for a link between McGraw and a locally known “pimp,” but no evidence could be developed and their thoughts turned to the murder being a “dump-job.” Given the recent discoveries of bodies of prostitutes on Long Island this theory seems to have some creditability. Lorraine McCraw’s murder is unsolved.

Monday, May 24, 1971: The body of 84 year-old Boarding House owner Florence Kalbach was discovered by part time South Nyack Policeman Anton Fluhr and his wife Thelma. With the conditions in her home, police were sure she was slain during a robbery. Twelve days after the murder South Nyack Police arrested 18 year-old Kenneth Hansen from Valley Cottage for murder. Hansen had been a “roomer” at the Tower House located on the corner of Broadway and Cedar Hill Avenue. Hansen testified at his trial and admitted burglarizing the apartment but denied killing Mrs. Kalbach. With only circumstantial evidence Hansen was found innocent of the murder on November 18, 1972. Kalbach's murderer remains free.

Sunday, February 1, 1976:  Two would-be robbers entered the Carvel Store on Route 59 in the Central Nyack portion of the Village of Nyack. After a struggle, one of the men shot store owner Earl Levine. Eye-witnesses described two African-American men fleeing the parking lot in a white Chevrolet Vega driven by a third African-American man. Levine was quickly taken to Nyack Hospital for emergency surgery, but died on Monday about nine hours after the shooting. Nyack Police heard “street-chatter” about the murder and robbery supposedly identifying the three local men; however no arrests were ever made. The three killers remain at large to this day.

Friday, August 10, 1978: The body of Nyack resident Amy Stafford was discovered in a wooded area off Gobel Road in New City shortly after 6:30 in the morning. Stafford was last seen alive about three hours earlier walking west on Main Street in Nyack. Residents along Gobel Road hear screaming, but never notified Clarkstown Police. The 27-year-old woman was stabbed three times in the heart. Police theorize she knew her killer, and was murdered by a boyfriend or close acquaintance. Stafford was known to the Nyack Police as a few days before her murder she was arrested with two friends for disorderly conduct. Police could not discover how she came to be found in New City. From evidence at the scene and reports of the neighbors, police believe she driven to New City in a truck. However, they were never able to locate anyone who saw Stafford leave Nyack. Her murder is unsolved and her killer or killers also remain at large.

The Nyack community is very fortunate the Orangetown Police quickly identified and arrested a suspect in last week's crime. However, the killers in the unsolved cases still are free. In three of the cases it is believed the killers were local people. People who—while considerably older—still might be walking our streets and living in our neighborhoods. I have been told the cases are still “open” and police are now seeking to identify the killers using modern-day DNA profiling from evidence found at each murder scene. Maybe someday the murderers will be brought to justice.