"Solve is a bad word," says Det. Rob Mooney of the Manhattan North Homicide Squad. "We don't like to use that word. We clear cases here. Solving the case says you actually know everything that happened, and you almost never have all of it."
For Det. Mooney, nearly 30 years on the force has given him a front row seat to some of New York's toughest cases. But there's one case -- one victim -- who has touched him more than any other.
Sarah Fox was born into a loving family; she was the baby. As a child, Sarah's mom says she was a "wild child." But as she grew, Sarah turned quieter, and became an introspective thinker. As a middle school student, Sarah read an article in a local New Jersey paper about a new high school that was opening for performing arts. She cut out the article, circled the headline and taped it to the fridge with a note saying, "Mom, I want to go here."
In high school, Sarah fell in love with acting. Her charm, dedication and devotion to her natural talent led to an audition and full scholarship to the prestigious Juilliard School of Performing Arts in Manhattan. They say if you can make it there you can make it anywhere. Sarah not only excelled as a student, but also grew as a person, leaving a remarkable impression on both her co-eds and the faculty.
On May 19, 2004, around 4:15 in the afternoon, Sarah went out for a late afternoon jog in her New York City neighborhood. Inwood Hill Park, a 196-acre virgin forest a block away from Sarah's five-story walk up, is home to running trails, tennis courts and baseball fields. A nature lover, Sarah often ran through the park which borders the Henry Hudson Parkway.
But when Sarah didn't come home on the 19th, her live-in boyfriend reported her missing.
"I came back that night and I didn't see her there. I knew something was wrong, so I called the police from there," Matthew Damico said.
When word got to her fellow Juilliard students and to her family and friends in her hometown of Pennsauken, N.J., a massive search effort was organized to comb through Inwood Hill, the last place Sarah was seen. For days, volunteers scoured the dense vegitation, but found no sign of Sarah.
Six days later, a group of family friends made a devastating discovery: Sarah's nude, decomposing body was found lying face up on a steep embankment in the park.
But what puzzled even veteran detective Rob Mooney was not where Sarah's body was found, but how. In a rough circle around her remains were yellow tulip tree petals. At first, police thought the petals were blown there naturally, but upon further inspection, cops say the petals were placed there days after Sarah's murder.
Investigators also recovered Sarah's pink CD player yards away from where her body was found. But, so far, because of the advanced decomposition of Sarah's remains, police have been unable to recover crucial evidence.
Now they are turning to you for help. If you know anything about the senseless murder of the 21-year-old woman, call our hotline right now at 1-800-CRIME-TV.
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