Kathryn Menendez, 17 ATT, Murder victim, 8-21-1994, Found Berlin Reservoir, OH

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MURDER VICTIMS
ALLIANCE, PORTAGE COUNTY, OHIO
NOVEMBER 4, 1994; AUGUST 25, 1994

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Victim - Sarah Rae Boehm

DESCRIPTION
Age: 14 years old Hair: Blonde
Sex: Female Eyes: Blue
Height: approximately 5'5"-5'6" Race: White
Weight: approximately 110-120 pounds Complexion: N/A

Remarks: Sarah had a scraped knee from a bicycle wreck. She also had both ears pierced with one traditional hole in each ear.

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Victim - Kathryn Menendez

DESCRIPTION
Age: 17 years old Hair: Blonde
Sex: Female Eyes: Brown
Height: 5'2" Race: White
Weight: 144 pounds Complexion: N/A

Remarks: None

THE DETAILS SURROUNDING THE CRIMES
Sarah Rae Boehm, a fourteen-year-old female teen, was reported missing by her parents on July 14, 1994, to local law enforcement in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. Several months later, on November 4, 1994, Sarah's remains were discovered in the "Berlin Reservoir," located within an Ohio state park, Portage County, Ohio. This rural community in Ohio was located approximately two hours away from the victim's home in Pennsylvania.

Additionally, Kathryn Menendez, another female teen victim, went missing on August 21, 1994, and her nude body was found several days later on an oil road near the "Berlin Reservoir." Kathryn had been strangled to death. Both Sarah and Kathryn's bodies were located approximately 1/2 mile apart in the same Ohio state park. Seventeen-year-old Kathryn was from Portage County, Ohio.

Information is being sought in both cases. Specifically, how Boehm from Pennsylvania ended up murdered in Ohio and information regarding the murder of Menendez. Investigators believe the two cases may be related. The FBI from both Pennsylvania and Ohio have been working closely with local law enforcement from Portage County, Ohio, as well as Beaver County, Pennsylvania.

IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION CONCERNING THESE TWO CASES, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR LOCAL FBI OFFICE OR THE NEAREST AMERICAN EMBASSY OR CONSULATE.

http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/seekinfo/boehm_s.htm

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FBI seeking new clues in deaths of two teenage girls 15 years ago
Stephanie Ujhelyi
August 4, 2009
By STEPHANIE UJHELYI
The Review

Although their cases have become cold, Sarah Rae Boehm and Kathryn Menendez have not been forgotten.

Late Monday morning, a billboard began reminding passing motorists on U.S. Route 62 east of Alliance of the gruesome discoveries in the vicinity of Berlin Reservoir almost 15 years ago.

The girls, apparently unrelated and unknown to each other, became linked in death after Portage County investigators discovered their bodies in 1994 within a half-mile vicinity of each other, and only months apart.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which appears to have commissioned the billboard, Boehm, a 14-year-old from Beaver County, Pa., was reported to be a runaway on July 14, 1994. Her story still beckons for leads on the Beaver County Crime Solvers Web site, which reported that she left her parents’ house around 11 p.m. to stay overnight at a female friend’s house.

Boehm never arrived at that residence, and her friend wasn’t expecting her.

Beaver County’s Rochester Township police received several reports of Boehm being sighted over the next few weeks, but she was never located, according to the Crime Solvers.

Several months later and 60 miles west in Alliance, 17-year-old Kathryn Menendez disappeared on Aug. 21, 1994. Days later, Menendez’s nude body was discovered on an oil well road near Berlin Reservoir — not too far from her home.

Menendez had been strangled.

On Nov. 4 of that same year, a hunter discovered a body within a half-mile of where Menendez had been found, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. In June 2003, DNA tests confirmed that those remains belonged to Boehm.

A reward is being offered in the cases, which the FBI believes may be related, according to the agency’s Web site.

Anyone with possible information on either of these cases is asked to call (330) 535-6156.

http://www.the-review.com/news/printer_friendly/4640949

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Alliance cold case murder victim's mom remembers
Stephanie Ujhelyi
August 27, 2009
By STEPHANIE UJHELYI
The Review

Janet Menendez of Alliance still finds it hard to believe that 15 years ago she traveled to Deerfield to identify what turned out to be the murdered remains of her teenage daughter, Kathryn.

Even though the case is now cold, law enforcement officials in Alliance and in Portage County hesitate to give up hope of finding the criminals responsible for Kathryn's death. Earlier this month, the Federal Bureau of Investigation erected billboards along U.S. Route 62 in hopes of thawing out the cold case. However, since her daughter's death, for Janet, it has been a long road to travel back to a life that for her is even halfway normal.

* * *

In the summer of 1994, Kathy Menendez was just preparing to start her senior year at West Branch High School, where she was attending through open enrollment. She disappeared on Aug. 21 of that year.

In an interview this week that marks the 15th anniversary of her daughter's unsolved murder, Janet explained that her family was on their way to view a movie at Mount Union Theatre without Kathy. Kathy, clad in a black tank top and shorts, had left for a trip to spend the night at a friend's house in Deerfield.

"It was the last time I saw her," Janet explained. "I never expected anything to happen to her."

The next day, when Janet checked with her husband, she was surprised to learn that Kathy hadn't checked in or returned home. Back then, some initially discounted Kathy as a runaway, as she would often go to spend time with friends; however, Janet prefers to think of it as AWOL (Absence Without Official Leave.)

"This time it felt very different," Janet added.

Several days later, contacted by a detective, Menendez was accompanied by a friend to identify what was thought to be Kathy's body.

It still puzzles Janet Menendez that the people responsible for the murder can sleep at night, knowing what they did to her beautiful daughter.

* * *

Kathy's mother has her own theory about who is responsible for her daughter's violent death.

Over the years, she has identified to investigators three area men she suspects. The suspects were slightly older than Kathy at the time of her death, and refused polygraph tests several days after Kathy's body was discovered.

Janet's theory was reinforced some time after the murder took place when a psychic provided details about the murder, including the involvement of an uniquely-colored vehicle, a red-haired man, a light-skinned black man, and an older man with a beard.

One, she says, was a wannabe suitor with an allegedly violent history.

In fact, Janet revealed one incident when an 18-year-old with a crush on her daughter showed up at the home and Kathy asked her mother to tell him that she wasn't there and didn't want to socialize with him.

Whether it was Kathy's personal preference or something else, her mother doesn't know, but she did as she was asked and the boy never entered the Menendez home, to her knowledge.

* * *

These suspects are faces that Janet sees regularly within the community -- at the department store and on the street. However, law enforcement officials have their own ideas as well.

For example, the FBI and Portage County Sheriff investigators believe that both girls featured on the billboards -- Kathy and Sarah Boehm -- were killed by the same person based on the location of their bodies and the similarity of the crime scenes.

Less than three months after Kathy's body was discovered, another female's body was found within a half-mile of the same location. It wasn't until almost a decade later that DNA testing identified the second body as belonging to Sarah Boehm, a Beaver County 14-year-old runaway.

Janet believes the proximity of the crime scenes is just coincidence.

However, investigators to this day disagree.

* * *

Investigators from Portage County and the city of Alliance welcome the help of the FBI due to the greater resources they can offer to the investigation.

Portage County Sheriff David Doak and Lt. Greg Johnson, also from Portage County, say they are happy to have the FBI's help with both the Menendez and Boehm cold cases. They told The Review that the FBI approached their department more than a month ago to inform them of the plan to develop new leads by erecting billboards in key areas of interest.

While Doak acknowledges that his department has "people of interest," the investigation lacks focus on one suspect.

However, thawing cold cases does have its obstacles.

"Memories fade. Witnesses move," Doak explained. "There are a multitude of issues when a case has laid cold for so long."

Johnson said, "You would think that they (the murderers) would get tired of carrying the burden for all these years."

Doak acknowledges the geographic location of the bodies are a concern, as are the ages of the victims. "There is a lot of coincidence," he added.

Neither Doak nor Johnson would reveal if either victim was sexually assaulted.

* * *

One could only describe the initial years after Kathy Menendez's body was found near Fewtown Road by Berlin Reservoir as hard to remember, says her mother.

Janet Menendez describes that she operated much on autopilot as life went on. She still had Kathy's 8-year-old brother to raise. "There were days I wanted to give up, a lot of crying and talking," she added.

She credits a huge support system -- made up of nine siblings, friends and family -- as helping her to get through the tragedy.

Her spirituality, unlike many in her situation, never wavered. "I never blamed God for it. I just hope he protected her when it happened," Menendez said. "It (the tragedy) has made me a stronger person than I was 15 years ago."

* * *

In remembering Kathy, Janet said much has been said about her daughter.

Kathy wanted to study cosmetology and always was greeting her family with some kind of cosmetic change to her appearance, ranging from her hair to her nails.

"She was always braiding and cutting," Janet said, adding that one time Janet came home to find Kathy had dyed her hair coal black.

It wasn't unusual for Janet to come home and find Kathy had cut her own hair; however, she would come to her mother for help when she needed it.

For example, when the experiment with dyeing Kathy's hair coal black went awry, she asked her mother to take her to the hair dresser. "Some silly things that girl did, including calling me at work to stop and buy her mascara on my way home," Janet explained.

"I see her friends and they have children. (Her murderers) took that away from her," she said.

She also acknowledges that some have been critical of her parenting. "Kathy had a tough time growing up, but short of chaining her to the bed, what could I have done?"

"She wasn't a bad girl," Janet said. "She was just a 17-year-old girl trying to grow up."

* * *

Alliance police also continue to investigate this case.

Chief Scott Griffith assures that solving this case is important.

City police Detective Jim Jones also met with Menendez Wednesday, to discuss her daughter's murder. He wasn't a part of the initial investigative team during her daughter's disappearance 15 years ago, however, he commended Menendez for her fortitude in surviving such a tragedy.

Janet realizes the arrest of those responsible won't bring Kathy back; however, it may save another life, she says. "I don't want them to hurt anyone else," Janet explained.

"For years, I blamed myself for Kathy's death. Then, I blamed Kathy. But then I figured out it was only the fault of the people who killed her," Menendez said.

"It is nice to know people are looking for Kathy's murderers."

Anyone with possible information on the Menendez case is asked to call Alliance police Detective Jim Jones at 330-821-9140 or Portage County Sheriff Lt. Greg Johnson at 330-535-6156.

http://www.the-review.com/news/article/4655980?FORM=ZZNR6