The True Crime Blog

This case is interesting because it’s still referenced in law schools and taught to students.  We are going to break this one up into a couple of episodes.  Today we are focusing on the victims in the case.  This is their story. 

We began on July 11th 1973.  Corcoran High School was a pretty active school.  They were in their summer session.  That year they would win the Section 3 Baseball Championships and were looking to be contenders again next year.  Near the end of the day a bell rang out.  It was the fire bell and the school was having a fire drill.  The students and facility exited the building and all gathered on a hill nearby.  When the drill was over, several of those gathered went back into the school.  Some did not.  One student, Alicia Hauck decided that she would go ahead and head home for the day.  

Alicia was wearing a light blue knit body shirt, light blue denim bell bottoms and brown shoes. Her typical route home would include a short cut through Elmwood Park. But today, for whatever reason, she decided to take a longer route through Glenwood Ave.  As she walked down the street, she was met with a stranger in a unique car.  He probably didn’t look very threatening, and Alicia got into the car when offered a ride.  

As the hours went by, Alicia didn’t come home.  Her parents became worried and searched for her.  Eventually, they contacted authorities. Even though this was not typical behavior of Alicia and that she disappeared with no apparent reason.  The police treated this like a typical runaway case in the beginning.  As the days went by and no leads came in.  Youth Division Chief Lt. William Reidy started looking into other possible reasons for the missing youth.  

Two 14 year old boys had recently escaped from the Elmcrest Children’s Center.  A home for troubled youth.  They were not gone long but it did fit the timeline of events.  The authorities followed that lead but found no evidence that the two boys ever came into contact with the missing girl.  

Police also looked into another missing persons report.  A 19 year old girl was also reported missing on the same night that Alicia went missing.  But a few days later, that girl was found safe. 

This was very hard on Alicia’s parents.  Her father would stop by the police station to check in and see if there were any new leads going on.  Her mother would cry anytime the weather would be bad.  She believed that her little girl was suffering out in the elements.  

On July 16th just 5 days after Alicia’s disappearance, another Corcoran High School student was reported missing.  This time it was 15 year old Marsha Hunter.  She was last seen when she left her house for school that morning.  The police looked into the theory that the two disappearances were linked, but found no real reason why they would be.  The authorities believed that the girls were both in hiding, but not together.  They put out a statement to the press saying that if they feared that they were in trouble, they need not worry.  Running away was not a crime and that they could come back without the fear of getting into trouble.  

But this is not to say that the police had given up on the idea that foul play wasnt at hand here.  They knew the route that Alicia typically took when she walked home and it was through a wooded park.  Searchers mounted and searched the park with the help of bloodhounds.  Although, they found nothing.  

Concerned friends of the Hauck Family got together and put together a one thousand dollar reward for information leading to Alicia’s whereabouts.  Along with this news, Chief Reidy wanted the girl’s friends to know that if they knew where either girl was, they should call the police right away.  They can identify as anonymous if they wanted so that no one would ever know that they made the report.  

Three days later, Marsha Hunter returned home, unharmed.  She had simply run away.  This seemed incredibly unfair to Alicia’s parents.  Since their daughter’s disappearance, two other local girls had gone missing and returned home, unharmed and safe.  As each day passed, they became more and more desperate to find their little girl.  They prepared over a thousand posters to put up wherever they can.  The police got Alicia’s description out to state officials all over to better their chances of spotting her.  

Meanwhile, as all of this is happening, on July 20th 1973. Police nearby receive a report of something disturbing found in a gully in the Adirondack (Add-A-Ron-Dack) mountains.  A man was dead. 

When the police arrived at the scene, they were met with a puzzling sight.  A car was parked, abandoned nearby.  The man’s body was a hundred feet away, down at the bottom of the gully.  They found identification showing that the body was that of twenty two year old Daniel Porter.  There was also evidence in the car that he was accompanied by a woman.  They soon learned that was his girlfriend, Susan Petz.  

The bizarre thing about this was that it was obvious that Daniel had been murdered.  He had several stab wounds to the back and chest.  It was also obvious that he had been left in this gully for days.  But there was no sign on Susan anywhere.  She had not turned up or had tried to contact any of her family or friends.  Police began to search around the area, believing that the worce happened to Susan as well.  But they found nothing.  

And when I say they found nothing, I mean nothing.  There was no apparent reason for this murder besides the fact that Susan was now missing.  You see, the two of them were heading into the Adirondacks to go camping for a while.  This is how they could be missing for days and no one suspects a thing.  Along with a lot of really nice camping equipment, they brought very expensive photography equipment with them.  All of this was still in their car when it was discovered by police.  

On top of this, any evidence that had been on or around Daniel’s body was long gone at this point.   There was heavy rainfall in this area recently and water had been running down the gully, likely washing any evidence away.  

Police gathered over 50 searchers, including bloodhounds and helicopters to search the area.  But the terrain was very hard to search.  The underbrush was thick and overgrown.  The bloodhounds could not get a scent and it was hard for the helicopters to see through the canopy of trees.  Everything seemed to be against authorities in this case.  

As time went by, detectives had to consider all possibilities in this case.  Could Susan have had a hand in Daniel’s death?  It was worth considering, but when you spoke to those that knew them, it was very hard to believe.  You see, Daniel was well known and liked by his peers.  He had worked as treasurer of the Cambridge Survey Research organization that conducted polls for the presidential campaign of George McGovern the year prior.  Senator McGovern knew Daniel and took a personal interest in this case.  He also worked at the Harvard Crimson as the photography so-chairman.  

His former coworker at the Harvard Crimson, Timothy Carlson, had written an article in the paper on July 24th 1973 entitled Danny D Porter.  In it, he describes learning of Daniel’s death and the shock that it brought.  He also describes the last time he saw Daniel.  He was with Susan and they seemed like everything was perfect.  They talked for a while and told Timothy that they were going camping that next weekend and after that, Daniel planned on doing some serious work on campaigns again.  

As the days dragged on, Susan’s parents feared the worst. 

Each day searchers made their way into the woods, each day they came back empty handed.  At this point it was hard to say what happened besides that there was a chance that a lovers quarrel happened and one, possibly two people lost their lives.  Campers continued to enter the Adirondacks, not fearing what might happen.

Sunday July 29th 1973 – Carol Ann Malinowski, David Freeman, Philip Dombelwski and Nicholas Fiorilla were all camping.  Two of the men had left camp and gone fishing that morning. The other two were enjoying the day in camp. A little while later, a man approached their camp.  He didn’t appear threatening at the time, except for the rifle he held back, out of view of the campers in the tent.  When he was close enough he brought the rifle up and aimed it at the door to the tent.  

The two campers in the tent didn’t see him coming.  The gunman ordered them out of the tent. Slowly they emerged, visibly frightened.  The gunman seemed on edge.  He told them that no one needed to get hurt, he just wanted their gas.  But things got more complicated when unexpectedly, the two boys who went fishing had just returned to camp. 

The gunman quickly ordered one of the campers to tie the others to opposite trees, where they couldn’t see one another.  He reportedly told them that “I killed before and I will kill again” When they were all tied up, the gunman then produced a knife and stabbed one of the men in the heart.  

It didn’t take long for things to fall apart for the gunman.   Two of the campers, Carol and one of the surviving men were able to wiggle free of their bonds and were able to escape on foot.  It didn’t take them long to flag down help on the road.  The other was taken hostage for a short time, but he then was able to escape from the gunman’s car which was described as an orange forign fastback.  

Now you have to understand, there was already a police presence in this area.  They had been looking for Sarah and now, there were reports of another attack.  They quickly got the description of the killer’s vehicle, an orange forign fastback car, to the police that were on the search.  This proved invaluable to the effort.  The car was spotted driving in the early morning with its headlights off.  Believing that they had their suspect, police gave chase.  But eventually, the suspect was able to ditch his car and run into the heavily wooded area.  Police lost sight of him in the woods.  

Now this is purely speculation because I couldn’t find rhyme nor reason for ditching at this point.  But I think this could be as simple as he was obviously looking for gas for his vehicle, so perhaps he was already pretty low.  He had to ditch at this point because if he were to run out during a better put together case, he would be caught for sure.  

Police gathered at the abandoned car.  They used that spot at basecamp for the time being.  Hundreds of officers gathered from all around and from all agencies.  They had a manhunt on their hands.  

In less than 24 hours, they were able to make a positive ID on who this killer was.  It was Robert Garrow.  A man well known to authorities as the worst type of human being.  He was a serial rapist, already on the run from the law when he didn’t show up to court.  

They made a positive ID from who the car was registered to and showed the surviving victims his photo.  

Soon we will post part two of the Burried Bodies case. If you can, please share this post. It helps us grow as a content creator and helps greatly.

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• Wednesday July 11th 1973 – 16 Year old Alicia Hauck was attending Summer School at Corcoran High School.  She was described as 5 foot 6 inches tall, 130 pounds with black hair and blue eyes.  She had a small scar on her upper lip.  On wednesday July 11th, she left summer school and had vanished into thin air.  She was wearing a light blue knit body shirt, light blue denim bell bottoms and brown shoes.  

• July 16th, The Chief investigated several leads that may have involved the disappearance.  There were two 14 year old boys who escaped from the Elmcrest Children’s Center who were quickly located and he also looked into the disappearance of a 19 year old girl that they thought at the time may have been connected.  This was proven not true when the 19 year old girl came home.

• • July 18th it was reported that another girl from the Corcoran High School had gone missing.  Marsha Hunter, a 15 year old girl was last seen when she left home for school that morning.  Upon initial investigation it appears that there was little to connect the two disappearances and they didn’t think foul play was involved in either.  
    • The police pleaded with the public to know that the girls were not in trouble and if they were in hiding, they need not worry.  They just wanted to know that they were ok.  They asked the other students of hte High School to come forward if they know anything about the two girls’ disappearances or if they may know where they are. 
•  July 20th 1973 – Daniel Porter and Susan Petz had packed up for a camping trip through the Adirondacks.  For some unknown reason, they had stopped their car on the road near a gully.  Daniel Porter had been attacked and killed.  Susan was now missing. The police found Daniels’ body three days later in the gully, 100 feet from his car.  He had several knife wounds in the back and chest.  All of their expensive camera and camping equipment was left in the car.  Along with their clothes. 

• • July 29th 1973 – Carol Ann Malinowski, David Freeman, Philip Dombelwski and Nicholas Fiorilla were all camping.  Two of the men had gone fishing that morning.  A man with a rifle entered the campground and pointed it at two of the campers in the tent.  He ordered them out and stated “I’m not going to hurt you, I just want your gas”.  Complicating things for the gunman was that the two boys who went fishing had just returned.  The gunman then ordered one of the campers to tie the others to opposite trees, where they couldn’t see one another.  He reportedly told them that “I killed before and I will kill again” When they were all tied up, the gunman then produced a knife and stabbed one of the men in the heart.  It didn’t take long for things to fall apart for the gunman.   Carol and one of the men were able to wiggle free of their bonds and were able to escape on foot and flag down help on the road.  The other was taken hostage for a short time, but he then was able to escape in the gunman’s car which was described as an orange forign fastback.  
    • The car was spotted driving in the early morning with its headlights off.  Believing that they had their suspect, police gave chase.  But eventually, the suspect was able to ditch his car and run into the heavily wooded area.  Police lost sight of him in the woods.  
    • The car was registered to Robert Garrow. The police didn’t know if Mr. Garrow was involved at the time or not.  Police speculated that the car may be stolen. 
    • Within a few hours, over a hundred police officials were searching the wooded area for the gunman.  They employed helicopters, bloodhounds and well organized searchers on foot. 
    • Police didn’t know if this killing had anything to do with the killing just over a week prior, but because they were very close in distance, they kept it in mind.  Evidence in the car was collected and would be analized with the evidence they had with the murder of Daniel Porter.  
    • By the next day they had a positive ID that Robert Garrow.  Police was able to show the surviving victims his picture and they state that it was him.