Unsolved: Worcester

Townsend, Massachusetts is a small town of less than 10,000 residents bordering New Hampshire. 

Townsend is part of Middlesex County, but it borders the Worcester County line and the cases we explore in this episode may be closely connected to each other, and other unsolved murders from the same area and during the same time period.

We again return to 1973 and the unsolved murder of 31-year-ol...

It’s just before 9 p.m. on September 30, 1973.

Jo-Anne Muldoon's parents arrive at her apartment on Intervale Road in Fitchburg after a call from a neighbor saying they could hear Jo-Anne's three month old son crying. 

 When they get to the second floor apartment, the door is unlocked. When the enter, the lights won't come on. The power in the apartment is out.  

Using light from the flame of a cigarette l...

It’s just after 12:30 PM on June 5, 1973.

32-year-old Maureen Moynihan and her 4-year-old daughter Jennifer have just dropped off Maureen’s 6-year-old son Timothy for afternoon kindergarten in West Boylston.

Maureen and Jennifer have a day full of errands planned.

Roughly 24 hours later, Maureen and Jennifer’s bodies were discovered along a dirt road in Rutland State Park.

It’s Sunday morning, July 29, 2018. It's around 2:15 AM.

A fight involving several people has broken out in front of a three-decker home on Sturgis Street.

Witnesses told police a man came running from the side of the Sturgis Street home and rapidly fired several gunshots, striking two people: one a 28-year-old man, and the other, 23-year-old Jovanexen “Jampy” Rivera.

The shooter ...

It’s around 9 a.m. on November 8, 1989.

A heavy fog across Central Massachusetts is finally lifting and a tragedy begins to reveal itself.

A retired construction worker is traveling along Chocolog Road in Uxbridge when he spots a large object along the road opposite of the Route 146 south bound exit ramp.

He discovers it’s an open sleeping bag, and it appears something is packed i...

It’s Saturday night in Worcester. May 26, 2018. Memorial Day Weekend.

Five teenagers are walking together along Holland Road, heading toward Main Street in the city’s Webster Square neighborhood.

At around 11:15 p.m., a vehicle pulls over on Holland Road. A man gets out of the car and fires 10 gun shots in the direction of the five teens.

16-year-old Sidney Krow Junior tries to ru...

It’s been more than 30 years since 10-year-old Holly Piiranen was abducted and killed.

Holly disappeared on August 5, 1993.

Holly was vacationing with her father and brothers at her grandparents cottage in Sturbridge. She had last been seen by her father around 11:45 a.m., heading toward a neighbor's house to play with puppies.

It wasn’t until October 23, 1993, 11 weeks later, whe...

May 16, 2003.

Following a tip from a local hunter, part of a one piece, blue Nike bathing suit is discovered on Whiskey Hill near the Nenameseck Sportsmen’s Club on Bacon Road in Palmer, Massachusetts.

The finding launches a full scale, grid-by-grid search over three weeks along eight and a half acres of hillsides and wooded areas on both sides of West Warren Road in Palmer and nearby Ware. 

It’s around 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 10, 2023. It’s a typical, cold January night in Central Massachusetts. Temperatures have dropped below 30 degrees. 

35-year-old Brittany Tee is leaving her home at 18 Main Street in Brookfield.

She’s wearing jeans and a hooded sweatshirt. Before she leaves the house, she puts on a black winter coat and a pair of work boots.  

Brittany makes sure she h...

It’s just after midnight on Saturday, June 2, 2018.

A person walking south along Reservoir Road in Holden notices something along the tree line on the side of the road. 

As the person moves closer to get a better look, he finds 22-year-old Lenny Valerio lying on the ground.

Lenny had been shot multiple times. Blood stains the gravel beneath him.

The passerby called po...

It’s around 4:45 AM. January 3, 2012.

It’s a windy morning and a chilling 25 degrees outside. 

A motorist driving along Stafford Road in Wales sees something lying on the side of the road.

The driver stops their car and immediately calls the police.

The body of a young man, later identified as 23-year-old Cory Cane of Worcester, lies motionless along the south side of...

It’s around 2 a.m. on March 4, 1984.

The temperature has dropped below 10 degrees in Gardner, Massachusetts.

Mr. D’s, a bar and lounge in downtown Gardner, has closed up for the night.

The parking lot in the back is empty, except for one car - a 1969 Pontiac Tempest - belonging to Holly Jean Cote.

Holly had met friends at Mr. D’s around midnight when she got off her s...

It’s around 6 p.m. Sunday, October 29, 2017.

As heavy rain poured and winds howled in East Brookfield, Lisa Germain left her group of friends at Dunny’s Tavern.

Lisa’s car was parked across the street from the bar. 

One driver stopped to let her cross East Main Street, but the driver heading westbound didn’t slow down.

Lisa was struck by the speeding vehicle. 

It’s around 2:35 a.m. on February 10, 2001.

Worcester Police officers are called to 141 Chandler Street for a report of a shooting at a late night party.

Five rounds were fired from a large, semi automatic handgun in a room on the first floor of the two-story home. As many as 50 people were at the party when the shots are fired.

When police arrive, they find 22-year-old Juan Carlo...

Was it a poltergeist rocking the walls of a three decker home on Douglas Street?

Did Worcester have its own haunted house?

In early 1950, that’s exactly what reporters from the Worcester Telegram and the Boston Globe were trying to figure out.

The residents of 14 Douglas Street were more frustrated than scared, complaining of rattling windows, picture frames falling off the walls,...

Today’s episode combines a pair of the most recent unsolved homicide cases we’ve explored to date on Unsolved: Worcester.

19-year-old Brandon Dirsa gunned down in broad daylight on Maxwell Street on Nov. 30, 2019. 

Jazmin Rosario, just 5 days from her 18th birthday, is shot and killed outside of the Big Y on Worcester’s West Side around 2:30 a.m. on Jan. 15, 2022.

There is very li...

It’s September 14, 1982.

A call is placed to the home of Charles McArthur on Tarrytown Lane in Worcester’s West Tatnuck neighborhood.

Charles isn’t at home when the call comes in.

His daughter answers the phone. The man on the other line instructs her to tell her father to get down to the Italian Kitchen restaurant on Shrewsbury Street.

When his daughter passes the me...

It’s 9 p.m. on August 24, 2016.

26-year-old Jose Ortiz has just left his sister’s home in Worcester’s Bell Hill neighborhood.

He’s walking along Elliot Street, making his way to his job as a personal care assistant, when a minivan pulls up alongside Jose.

The driver gets out of the vehicle.

Witnesses say Jose and the unidentified man driving the minivan get into a hea...