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Suzanne Jovin was murdered in the East Rock section of New Haven on December 4, 1998, at about 9:45 p.m., on the south side of East Rock Road.She was stabbed numerous times in the head, neck, and back and left lying near a grassy patch adjacent to the sidewalk.In spite of intense and sustained efforts of investigators, the case remains unsolved.
Shortly before Suzanne's body was discovered, witnesses reported hearing what sounded like an argument between a man and a woman, and some reported hearing a scream.Other witnesses have said that as they approached the corner of East Rock and Edgehill Roads, they saw a tan or brown van stopped in the roadway facing east, immediately adjacent to where Suzanne was found.
At about 9:25 p.m., Suzanne was seen walking north on College Street towards Elm Street, coming from the direction of Phelps Gate on the Yale campus.This was the last time witnesses saw Suzanne prior to her meeting the person responsible for this vicious attack.
East Rock and Edgehill Roads are in a residential area about two miles from Phelps Gate.Suzanne could not have walked to the scene from Phelps Gate in the time that passed before she was murdered.Police believe that someone she knew drove Suzanne there.It is very unlikely that she would have voluntarily gotten into a car with a stranger, or that she was forcibly abducted without someone witnessing something.
Suzanne Jovin was the director of the Best Buddies Program for Yale, a volunteer program that seeks to enhance the lives of mentally disadvantaged adults from the New Haven community by providing one-to-one friendships with Yale students.
During the late afternoon and early evening of December 4th, Suzanne was actively involved with her volunteer work at Best Buddies.She had organized a holiday pizza party for the Best Buddy clients and their Yale counterparts at the Trinity Lutheran Church, at Wall and Orange Streets, that started at about 6:00 p.m.Suzanne borrowed a car from the Yale car pool, and used it to transport some of the Best Buddies to and from the party.Shortly before 9:00 p.m., she returned the vehicle to a parking lot on Edgewood Avenue near Howe Street.She then went to her apartment at 256 Park Street for a brief time, and at approximately at 9:20 p.m., she was seen walking toward the Yale Police office at Phelps Gate on College Street between Elm and Chapel Streets where she turned in the keys for the borrowed Yale vehicle.
Interviews with friends, associates, and anyone who knew or came in contact with Suzanne Jovin, make it abundantly clear that she was a wonderful young woman, an outstanding student and extremely popular.More importantly, she was greatly admired as a person with a social conscience who gave so much of herself as a volunteer assisting people less fortunate than herself.
Yale University, in its continued interest in seeking justice in this case, is contributing $100,000 to the existing reward fund, making the total reward $150,000 for the person or persons who supply information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for this brutal crime.
We urge anyone with information - anyone who saw Suzanne between Phelps Gate and East Rock Road, or who knows anything about the tan or brown van, or who can add anything else about the case --- call the New Haven Police Department at 1-866-888-TIPS.If you have any information that may be helpful, don't hesitate, please call police. We believe that there are other citizens, who have not talked to police, and may have information that can assist us in this investigation. You can earn a reward of $150,000. All calls will be kept confidential.
Case Profiled For TIPS Hotline:3/27/01
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