The brutality of the crime, the fact that she was pregnant when she was killed and the length of time that she remained unidentified created national attention.

In 2019, it was announced police were considering the possibility that this victim had been a runaway foster child who was last known to be in New York,[4] but investigators subsequently located the girl and confirmed that she was alive.

[6] In addition, the identity of her alleged killer, Luis Sierra, was made public after charges were filed.

[7] When discovered, the victim, who was carrying a nine-month female fetus, had been sexually assaulted, strangled and shot in the neck by an unknown person.

"[13] The parts of her body and that of her unborn daughter had been placed into three suitcases; two were striped with red, blue, and white, and the other one was tan with a plaid design.

[14][17][18] To dispose of the body, the suitcases had been thrown off a bridge over the Lehigh River in White Haven, Pennsylvania along Interstate 80.

[16][25][26][27] Other evidence included straw and packaging foam, as well as a bedspread that was waterlogged with fragments of a newspaper that had been used to wrap parts of the body.

[2][11][18][28][29] The bedspread was reddish-orange in color with yellow and pink embroidered flowers, and was made of chenille fabric.

[2][14][16] The body was removed by authorities and transported in plastic bags to the nearby Gnadden Huetten Hospital for examination.

[11][30] After a three-hour autopsy on December 23, 1976, it was determined that she was a white woman in her late teens or early twenties.

[8] It was believed that she was probably born in Europe and moved to the United States before reaching her teenage years, as examination of her tooth enamel indicated.

A tip was submitted to police by an individual who had gone to school with Cruz and saw a resemblance to the reconstructions of Beth Doe.

Sierra was subsequently charged with the victim's murder; at the time of his arrest, he was residing in Ozone Park, New York and was 63.

[49][50] At the time of her murder, Colon, who was of Puerto Rican origin, was dating Sierra, the father of her unborn child, in Jersey City.

In January 1977, the family received a letter in Spanish from Sierra, stamped from Connecticut, telling them Colon had given birth to a boy and not to worry, because she would contact them if she needed anything.