Unsolved: Anna Marie Callahan, 16, and Mary Irene Gency, 16
The unsolved murders of two girls haunt the Mon Valley.
Eighteen years separate the killings of Anna Marie Callahan and Mary Irene Gency. Their bodies were found 3 1/2 miles apart, on opposite sides of the Monongahela River.
Both girls were "sweet 16" when their lives were horribly ended.
Callahan, of McKeesport, was found 10 feet from the river's edge in Belle Vernon by a young fisherman on Oct. 15, 1995. Investigators initially thought they were dealing with the death of a child much younger, according to Fayette County Coroner's reports.
Just 4-foot, 10-inches tall and weighing only 80 pounds, Anna was dressed in clothes that appeared much too big for her tiny frame. She had on a white shirt, a black and red jacket, high-top sneakers and white jeans.
But it is other details that continue to gnaw at investigators.
The electrical extension cord used to strangle her was still wrapped around her neck, and her hands were tied together with duct tape.
Someone had placed flowers in Anna's hands.
Even before her murder was assigned to Troop B in Washington County's cold-case unit, state police Cpl. Beverly Ashton, then a trooper, was among the investigators summoned to Belle Vernon to look into Anna's death. She's still on the case.
Ashton hasn't forgotten it and probably never will.
"Anytime a murder is committed it's certainly tragic, but when you have to deal with children who are victims it has a tendency to stick closer to you," Ashton said.
Anna had dropped out of Cornell Middle School and had travelled to the Belle Vernon area with an acquaintance, according to initial reports. She was last seen alive a day before -- reportedly playing along the same shore where her dead body would be found 24 hours later.
The mysteries surrounding Mary's death have been rehashed by Charleroi area residents for more than a quarter of a century.
"I'd say it's the worst crime scene I can recall in all of my years I served as Washington County district attorney," said Herman Bigi, now a Charleroi attorney.
Mary, a sophomore at Charleroi High School, had been the subject of a much-publicized, community-wide search when she disappeared Feb. 13, 1977, after meeting teenage friends at a downtown Isaly's store.
Two deer spotters found her severely beaten, frozen, nude body near a sportsmen's club, in nearby Fallowfield Township, six days after her disappearance.
She was raped and died from multiple blows to her head with a blunt instrument.
Mary's older sister, Pam Nichols, of Monessen, remains bitter that more people didn't step forward to provide information to police.
"It's my opinion the killer or killers who did this are cowards and the people who may know something are cowards, too, for not stepping forward and giving information to investigators. You wouldn't believe the number of people who come up to members of our family and say they know this or that," Nichols said. "If it wasn't for our faith ... I don't think we'd have gotten this far. People can still come forward and provide information and I have faith that someday they will."
Police did arrest David Davoli, then 19 years old, four months after Mary's murder. But the Charleroi teen was released three weeks later after a judge ruled that prosecutors did not have enough evidence. Some eyewitnesses had placed Mary in Davoli's car 90 minutes before her death.
"She was with all those teenagers. Someone knows something," Nichols said.
"She was just a young, pretty, vibrant teenager, with a beautiful laugh. She sometimes had trouble pronouncing her "r's"-- like she used to pronounce "monster" as "monsta" and we used to kid her about it a little," Nichols said.
Mary's father, Bud Gency, said he thinks about his daughter every day.
"You always wonder what happened. Would we have had any grandchildren?" Bud Gency said.
Ashton said police are still actively plugging away to solve Mary's murder.
"Anything that's a little old ... anything to get information put back out into the public consciousness on it is good because it could generate a tip that could help us someday hold someone accountable," Ashton said.
Additional Information:
Details
Anna Marie CallahanMary Irene Gency
Cpl. Beverly Ashton: 724-223-5200For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. -- John 3:20
--Verse posted on Internet memorial kept on Charleroi High School alumni site for Mary Irene Gency, 16, of North Charleroi, who was murdered Feb. 13, 1977.
The Web site , is maintained by Gency's sister, Pam Nichols.
