After 48 Years, DNA Identifies 'Montauk Mary' as Sofia Marrone, 73, in Long Island Cold Case

After 48 years without a name, the woman found shot dead near a radar tower in Montauk in 1978 finally has one. Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney announced on Thursday that DNA testing identified "Montauk Mary" as Sofia Margherita Marrone, 73, of Pleasantville, New Jersey, and named Jersey Shore "Thrill Killer" Richard Biegenwald as a suspect in her murder.

Key Points

• DNA testing identified "Montauk Mary" as Sofia Margherita Marrone, 73, of Pleasantville, New Jersey.
• Marrone's body was found on March 22, 1978, near the Camp Hero radar tower in Montauk, shot four times.
• District Attorney Ray Tierney named Richard Biegenwald, the Jersey Shore "Thrill Killer", as a suspect in her murder.
• The link is the rare .22-caliber short rounds that killed her, the same bullets Biegenwald carried when arrested in 1983.
• Police cannot yet confirm he was the shooter. Marrone was one of six cold-case victims identified on Thursday.

What Happened

Marrone was last seen alive on March 16, 1978, leaving Shore Memorial Hospital in Somers Point, New Jersey, near her home in Pleasantville. Six days later, a United States airman found her body near the Camp Hero radar tower in Montauk, about 250 miles away. She had been shot four times in the chest, and investigators believe she was killed just hours before she was found.

For 48 years she was known only as "Montauk Mary", one of Suffolk County's most enduring Jane Does. That changed on Thursday, November 12, when Tierney said his Cold Case Task Force used genetic genealogy and next-generation DNA sequencing to give her back her name. Related coverage: Netflix Docuseries Shows Van der Sloot Taking $25,000 in FBI Sting Over Holloway.

Background and Context

Biegenwald was one of the most feared killers on the Jersey Shore. Convicted of killing six people between 1958 and 1982, he was serving life sentences in a New Jersey prison when he died in 2008. He earned the nickname "Thrill Killer" for murders prosecutors said were committed for excitement, and his name has haunted cold cases along the New Jersey and New York coasts ever since.

How Marrone ended up in Montauk remains unclear. Investigators have not said why she was at Shore Memorial Hospital, who she may have met before her death, or what took her 250 miles from home. What they have established is the timing: she left the hospital on March 16 and was found dead on March 22, shot hours earlier.

Who Was "Montauk Mary"?

For nearly half a century, "Montauk Mary" was a name invented by investigators for a woman nobody could identify. She was 73, from Pleasantville in southern New Jersey, and her last known movements were at a hospital in Somers Point, near her home. Little has been made public about her life or family.

That silence is part of why Thursday's announcement mattered so much to the families who gathered at the Suffolk County police training facility in Brentwood. For the relatives of the six identified victims, the news was not about a suspect or a trial. It was about a name, a hometown, and an end to decades of not knowing. Tierney put it plainly: "We've given back their names."

Five More Cold Cases Get Their Names Back

Marrone was not the only victim identified on Thursday. The task force named five others, all found dead in Suffolk County between 1976 and 1999, three believed homicide victims. Ramon Perez Y Rivera, 41, known as "Raymond Doe" for his tattoo, was found by hunters in Deer Park in 1976, shot in the abdomen; a Puerto Rico native, he had lived in Brooklyn.

Antionette Rugg, 27, the "Heckscher Jane Doe", was found in Islip on April 2, 1978, after a dog dug up a skull, a belt cinched around her neck. The others were Kyong-Ok Kim, 32, of South Korea, found in Riverhead Town on March 12, 1990, cause of death still under investigation; Omelios Steward, 27, found in the Atlantic near Fire Island on November 4, 1990, believed drowned; and German Andreas Kupke, found dead in Montauk on December 24, 1999, cause unclear.

The six identifications came from a county backlog that is still enormous: about 244 unsolved death cases from 1970 to 2025, with about 210 victims still unidentified. Tierney said his office will keep using the same DNA technology to work through them.

Reactions

Tierney framed the announcement as a promise kept to families who waited decades. "We have made full progress in restoring the identities of these individuals, providing answers to their loved ones and advancing the pursuit of justice on their behalf," he said on Thursday. No charges were announced in any of the six cases, and police said the investigations continue.

Investigators were measured on the Biegenwald link. Naming a dead man as a suspect in a 48-year-old murder is a significant step, but the office stressed it is not a conclusion. The bullet match is, for now, the evidence tying him to Marrone's killing. Also read: Virginia Parents Charged After Teen Party Draws 300 to $3.2M McLean Home.

Why It Matters

Marrone's identification shows how far cold-case science has come. A woman who died in 1978 kept her name hidden for 48 years because the science to identify her did not exist. Now it does, and the same tools are being pointed at about 210 other unidentified victims in one county. It also matters because the suspect named is dead. Biegenwald died in prison in 2008, so even if investigators confirm he killed Marrone, there will be no trial or verdict. The value is different: a name for the victim, an answer for her family, and a clearer record of what one of the Jersey Shore's most notorious killers may have done.

What Happens Next

The investigation continues. Police have not said what further evidence they seek, or whether other suspects are being considered, but they have made clear the case is not closed and the Biegenwald link is not yet proof. The Cold Case Task Force will keep working through Suffolk County's remaining unidentified victims, and further identifications are likely.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was "Montauk Mary"?
"Montauk Mary" was the name given to a woman found shot dead in Montauk on March 22, 1978. On November 12, 2026, DNA identified her as Sofia Margherita Marrone, 73, of Pleasantville, New Jersey.

Who is suspected of killing her?
Suffolk County named Richard Biegenwald, the Jersey Shore "Thrill Killer", as a suspect: Marrone was killed with the same rare .22-caliber short rounds he used. Police cannot yet confirm he was the shooter.

Who was Richard Biegenwald?
Biegenwald was a serial killer convicted of killing six people between 1958 and 1982, and died in a New Jersey prison in 2008 while serving life sentences.

How was Marrone identified after 48 years?
Genetic genealogy and next-generation DNA sequencing, the same technology that helped identify the victims of Gilgo Beach killer Rex Heuermann, arrested in 2023.

How many cold cases are still unsolved in Suffolk County?
About 244 unsolved death cases from 1970 to 2025, with about 210 victims still unidentified.