DNA on smoothie straw connects suspect to 1984 teen murder

The vanishings of two teenage girls within five months of each other in 1984 turned a quiet Long Island suburb into the center of fear and heartbreak, leaving families searching for answers that have never fully come.

Kelly Morrissey, 15, disappeared on June 12, 1984, after leaving her Lynbrook home shortly after dinner. She told her family she would return later that evening, but she never came back.

At first, relatives did not immediately suspect danger. During the 1980s, teenagers often spent hours outside with friends, and parents had limited ways to keep track of them. It was only the following morning, when Kelly failed to return home or attend school, that panic set in.

Kelly had recently formed a close friendship with Theresa Fusco, a 16-year-old known for her outgoing personality and love of spending time at Hot Skates, a popular roller rink where local teens gathered.

The two girls enjoyed the carefree lifestyle many young people shared at the time — meeting at malls, writing letters, and socializing without much supervision.

As weeks turned into months with no sign of Kelly, her family held onto hope. But on November 10, 1984, another nightmare struck the Lynbrook community when Theresa disappeared after finishing work at Hot Skates.

Friends initially assumed she had gone elsewhere, yet concern quickly grew when she failed to show up for a planned sleepover and later missed school.

Nearly a month later, Theresa’s body was discovered near the Long Island Rail Road tracks, hidden beneath leaves and wooden pallets. Investigators said the teenager had been sexually assaulted and strangled.

The grim discovery forced authorities to reexamine Kelly’s disappearance, deepening suspicions that the two cases could be connected.

Four decades later, both tragedies remain painful symbols of a safer era lost, while loved ones continue to remember the girls whose lives ended far too soon.