The murders were too perfect. Not in a technical sense—they were messy and brutal—but in their terrifying, linguistic symmetry. Between 1971 and 1973, three young girls in Rochester, New York, were abducted and strangled. Each girl’s first and last name started with the same letter. Even worse, their bodies were dumped in towns that shared that same initial. Carmen Colon in Churchville. Wanda Walkowicz in Webster. Michelle Maenza in Macedon.
People still ask: who was the Alphabet Killer?
If you’re looking for a neat, "Case Closed" ending, you won't find it here. Despite decades of DNA testing, countless police interviews, and enough "persons of interest" to fill a courtroom, no one has ever been charged with these specific crimes. It’s one of the most frustrating cold cases in American history. It’s a story of missed opportunities, 1970s investigative limitations, and the haunting possibility that the killer lived a completely normal life right under the nose of the Monroe County Sheriff's Department.
The Pattern that Paralyzed Rochester
It started with Carmen Colon. She was only ten. On November 16, 1971, she vanished after leaving her grandmother's house to visit a drugstore. Two days later, her body was found near a gully in Churchville, about 15 miles away. The "C" connection was noted, but at the time, police treated it as an isolated tragedy. Rochester wasn't a place where serial killers operated. Not then.
Then came Wanda.
Wanda Walkowicz was eleven years old when she went to a grocery store in April 1973 and never came back. Her body turned up in Webster. Then, just months later, eleven-year-old Michelle Maenza was found in Macedon. The pattern was undeniable. The media jumped on it. The public panicked.
Honestly, the "Alphabet Killer" moniker—sometimes called the Double Initial Murders—probably hindered the investigation as much as it helped. It created a specific profile that police became obsessed with. They were looking for a mastermind, someone playing a sick game with the English language. But what if the initials were just a coincidence? Or what if the killer just happened to find targets that fit a loose internal logic?
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Investigators looked at thousands of people. They interviewed locals, travelers, and known sex offenders. The sheer volume of data was overwhelming for a pre-computer era. Leads were scribbled on index cards. Boxes piled up.
The Prime Suspects: Who Really Fits?
When you dig into the files of who was the Alphabet Killer, a few names keep surfacing. The problem is that every time the police think they have their man, the evidence slips through their fingers like sand.
Kenneth Bianchi and the Hillside Strangler Connection
You’ve probably heard of the Hillside Stranglers. Kenneth Bianchi was one half of that duo. He actually lived in Rochester during the time of the Alphabet murders. He worked as an ice cream vendor. Think about that for a second. A man who would later be convicted of multiple serial killings in California was literally driving a truck around Rochester neighborhoods when young girls were disappearing.
It fits. Sorta.
Bianchi has always denied involvement in the Rochester killings. While the MO has some similarities—strangulation and dumping bodies—it doesn't perfectly align with the California murders. Furthermore, DNA testing in the early 2000s failed to link him to the Rochester scenes. Is it possible he did it? Sure. Is there proof? Not even close.
The Uncle: Miguel Colon
In many cold cases, the answer is closer to home. Miguel Colon was Carmen’s uncle. Shortly after her murder, he fled Rochester and moved to Puerto Rico. He later killed his wife and himself. For years, he was a top-tier suspect.
Police eventually cleared him via DNA. That’s the recurring theme here: DNA has been the Great Destroyer of theories in this case. It has cleared almost every major suspect the police spent decades trailing.
Joseph Naso: The California Double
Decades later, a man named Joseph Naso was arrested in California. He had a "diary" that listed several "girls" he had killed. Strangely, four of his victims had double initials. He had lived in the Rochester area in the 70s. The internet went wild. This was it, right?
Naso was eventually convicted of the California murders, but New York authorities couldn't find a definitive link to the 1970s Rochester cases. The DNA didn't match. It’s a bizarre, chilling coincidence, or perhaps evidence of a specific type of psychological obsession that isn't unique to just one killer.
Why Science Hasn't Solved This Yet
We live in the era of CSI and Forensic Files. We expect every case to be solved by a stray hair or a drop of blood. In the Alphabet murders, the evidence was preserved, but it was 1970s-level preservation.
Contamination is the big enemy here. When Carmen, Wanda, and Michelle were found, forensic protocols were rudimentary. First responders walked all over the scenes. Bodies were handled without the sterile precision we use today. By the time advanced Y-STR DNA testing became available, much of the biological material from the crime scenes was either degraded or "noisy" with the DNA of people who weren't the killer.
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In 2006, the Rochester Police Department and the FBI tried to create a definitive profile using new tech. They even exhumed bodies. They found a male DNA profile on some of the clothing, but it didn't match any of the men on their "Top 10" list.
This leads to a terrifying conclusion: The Alphabet Killer might be someone whose name has never even appeared in a police report. He could have been a transient worker, a long-haul trucker, or just a quiet neighbor who died years ago without ever drawing suspicion.
The "Initial" Obsession: Was it Real?
One thing experts like former FBI profiler Robert Ressler have discussed is whether the alphabet pattern was intentional. If you look at the geography of Rochester, the towns of Churchville, Webster, and Macedon are spread out. To pick a girl named Carmen and drive her specifically to Churchville requires planning.
But some skeptics argue we’re seeing patterns in the clouds. Rochester has many towns. Many people have alliterative names. If the killer was just grabbing girls at random, is it possible that three out of dozens of attempts just happened to fit this pattern, and those are the three we remember?
Probably not. Three for three is a high statistical anomaly. The killer likely had a "signature." This wasn't just about the act of murder; it was about the ritual of the dump site.
What You Can Do to Help
Cold cases stay alive because people keep talking about them. The Alphabet murders aren't just a "true crime story"; they represent three families who never got a day in court.
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- Review the details: If you have relatives who lived in the Rochester/Monroe County area in the early 70s, ask them about "strange" occurrences or neighbors who left town suddenly in 1973.
- Support the Doe Network: This organization works tirelessly to identify victims and connect them to cold cases.
- Advocate for Forensic Funding: Many police departments have backlogs of DNA evidence that simply haven't been processed because of a lack of budget. Support initiatives that fund "Cold Case Units."
The identity of who was the Alphabet Killer remains the "Holy Grail" for New York investigators. While the perpetrator is likely dead given the timeline, the truth still matters. Justice doesn't have an expiration date.
To dig deeper into the actual police files and witness statements, your next step should be to look into the Monroe County Sheriff's Department's public records or visit the Rochester Public Library's local history archives, which house the original newspaper clippings and community reactions from 1971. Examining the original maps of the abduction sites versus the recovery sites provides a chilling perspective on the killer's movements through the suburbs of Western New York.