Kelly Morrissey: The Search for Kelly Morrissey Continues 26 Years Later

NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS MUG SHOT OF JOHN KOGUT, FORMERLY OF ISLAND PARK. KOGUT WAS INCARCERATED FOR THE RAPE AND MURDER OF THERESA FUSCO, MORRISSEY’S FRIEND, THEN FREED DUE TO NEW DNA EVIDENCE. HE’S CURRENTLY SERVING TIME FOR BURGLARY.

Quinn never gave up on me, either. He always returned my calls, took the time to go over some of my crazy theories, and showed remarkable patience when I made him go over things again and again. When I could get the time, I would meet him. We would go to the Shell gas station where Kelly was last seen and walk the few blocks to where she was supposed to have gone. But no matter how many times we did it, we didn’t find any more answers.

We knew that Kelly had left her home to meet her friend Gail Cole and hook up with two boys at the Shell Gas station on Merrick Road in Lynbrook.

In a statement to the police, Cole said that when the two boys did not show up, Kelly told her she would go on alone and began walking east on Merrick Road toward Captain Video, a local video arcade store located just a few blocks away. Cole said that was the last time she saw Kelly.

Soon after giving her statements, Cole moved away.

Yet a few years after Kelly’s disappearance, I was able to locate Kim Beyer, one of Kelly’s closest friends, who told me a different story. She said Cole, who was supposedly the last person to see Kelly, had told her that she [Cole] got into a car with some people Kelly and Beyer didn’t like. When Kelly would not get in the car, Cole left her alone. Cole insisted to Beyer that she did not remember the names of the people in the car.

Quinn said Cole was not very cooperative during the initial investigation and had never mentioned anything about getting into a car. Kelly’s mother, Iris Olmstead, also had doubts about Cole.

“It was very strange that she never called me. I always wondered if she knew more than she was telling me,” she said.

Based on the new information concerning that evening, Quinn tried to get in touch with Cole. He said he was in contact with some of Cole’s relatives but none wanted to give out any information concerning her whereabouts. We both wondered why Cole would disappear and tell different accounts of that night.

Then, the plot thickened.

Murder, Incorporated

Only five months after Kelly’s disappearance, the Lynbrook area was dealt another shock. Sixteen-year-old Theresa Fusco left her home in Lynbrook to walk four blocks home from Hot Skates Roller Rink, where she worked. On Dec. 5, 1984, her nude body was discovered not far from her home, buried in a wooded area beneath dirt and leaves.

The similarities between the two disappearances were unmistakable: Both teenagers were reported missing within a few months of each other, both were from Lynbrook, both were last seen within a half mile of each other and were friendly with the same people.

Months later, tragedy struck yet again.