BAY SHORE, NY – It has been 42 years since the death of Eve Wilkowitz, 20, of Bay Shore and during that time, her case went unsolved.
Today, it was announced that using DNA evidence and advances in technology, Suffolk County investigators were finally able to identify Miss Wilkowitz’s murderer.
“It was an emotional afternoon for the family of Eve Wilkowitz, a 20-year-old Bay Shore woman who was murdered in 1980, as the name of her killer was publicly announced during a press conference in Riverhead,” the Suffolk County Prosecutor’s Office said.
Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney K Harrison and Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney joined representatives from the department’s Homicide Squad, the FBI and Suffolk County Crime Lab to explain how advances in technology enabled investigators to connect DNA evidence found on the victim to the suspect, Herbert Rice. Rice died of cancer in 1991.
Eve’s sister, Irene, and nephew, Evan, attended the press conference and thanked investigators for never giving up on the case.