Murder of Lisa Thomas

15-year-old Lisa Thomas's mother described her daughter as upbeat and a friend who was always willing to help. Around 3:30 pm on October 7, 1974, Lisa left her house to go to the Nanuet Mall in Nanuet, New York. She was going to treat herself to a new blouse with the money she earned babysitting.

When she didn't return for dinner, her parents knew something was wrong. Her parents began calling her friends to make sure she wasn't with them. They were hoping she just forgot to call them. They soon contacted the police.

The next morning her father went to search for at the mall and searched the woods behind it. She walked through the woods as a short cut to and from the mall.  Around 11 a.m. he found his worst nightmare. He found his daughter blindfolded. She was only 300 ft from the mall and 700 ft from her home. Where her body was found though it was off her regular short cut route.

She was found face up, blindfolded and fully clothed, with a white sweater tied around her neck. The red cloth she was blindfolded with was one she kept on her pocketbook. Her clothes weren't dirty indicating she was not dragged to where she was found. Her white shoes were laying nearby, and her socks were dirty and filtered and there were signs of a struggle.

The murder weapon was described as being unusual. It left triangle-shaped wounds.

It was initially believed she had been strangled, as there was little blood. She was struck upon the nose, once behind the left ear, and then on top of her head. It was revealed there were large quantities of blood found in her stomach and lungs. She was not sexually assaulted.  It was believed the attack happened between 4 and 6 p.m. A set of her house keys were missing and out of the $15 she had only $1.35 was found.

She was last seen at the mall by an undisclosed friend around 3:30.

The motive for the attack is still undetermined. It's believed that she was lured to the area by someone she trusted as there was no struggle towards the site, and she was blindfolded with her own cloth.

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SOURCES:
https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/cold-case-spotlight/lisa-thomas-n366901
https://www.lohud.com/story/news/crime/2014/09/23/nanuet-teen-slaying-unsolved-years/16116145/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5663780/the_journal_news/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6183486/the_journal_news/
https://www.facebook.com/JusticeforLisaThomas/