Aug. 9, 1974 — Another unsolved New Jersey murder

On August 9th, 1974, two teenage New Jersey girls left their homes to go to the Garden State Plaza, but they never made it. The two girls, 17 year old Mary Ann Pryor and 16 year old Lorraine Kelly, were found five days later in Montvale. Police believe they had been beaten, sexually assaulted, and strangled.

One theory is that the girls, who had been dropped off at a bus stop, decided to hitchhike instead, as both were known to do that. According to the Hudson Reporter, there were other similar murders of young woman in Northern New Jersey and Delaware from August of 1974 to October of 1975 that involved eight girls from age 14 to 22 and that could possibly be linked to the Bergen County murders.

The case is still considered “active” and work continues on it to this day.

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