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

It was after 11 p.m. and an ominous darkness covered the gravesites as the psychic got out of the car and walked around. Soon all we could see was glow from the end of his cigarette. As the psychic passed the marked gravestones he seemed unaware of the eerie silence, the oppressive sense of lives long past, and the encompassing chill that went through our bodies as if to warn us we were trespassing on sacred ground. Quinn rolled up his window.

The psychic came back to the car, visibly excited.

“I can feel it happening here,” he said. “Drive out now and go over there,” he said, pointing across the street at a nearby reservoir.

Through the trees we could not see a road in, but the psychic was determined. He was convinced there was a way.

“It’s that way,” he said, pointing in another direction. He was right. He once again got out of the car and walked down the road. We followed.

“This is the place,” he calmly told us. We looked around and a cold chill went through my body. Surrounding us was a bridge crossing the reservoir, water, sand, an oil can covered with rust, a shopping center nearby and, of course, the cemetery. All of the things he had told us he saw.

We had a potential place, but no positive indication of what might have occurred there. There were signs the area had been used for makeshift campfires and strange rituals, but no signs of Kelly.

Only later did we realize that Kelly had mentioned in her diary an “amazing” place in the woods where they would hang out and build a fire. Could it have been the same place? There was no way to know. We had no proof, and once again we were left with more questions than answers.

One theory that has persisted through the years is that Kelly was killed in Lynbrook, and her body was buried on a 25-acre site of private property in upstate New York. Without anything more specific, the police could do nothing to follow up.

Beyond A Reasonable Doubt

In another shocking twist, in June 2003, the convictions of all three defendants in Theresa’s death were overturned, based on newly discovered DNA evidence. Restivo and Hallstead were freed. Based on his videotape confession, Kogut was retried and acquitted in 2005. He had waived his right to a jury trial, and the decision to find him not guilty was made by Judge Victor Ort only.

In December 2005, all charges against Restivo and Halstead were dismissed, ensuring they will not be retried. Now, there was little to go on. Leads came in often, but the vast majority led nowhere.

Meanwhile, many more questions have surfaced, and hope for Kelly’s safe return has faded, but those close to her use the same words when they talk of their grief, saying they need closure before they can begin to heal.