Reward offered in 2003 murder
Police seeking more clues into woman’s Orange County death
WALLKILL — Twenty is a big number this year for investigators of the Megan Mcdonald murder case.
Tuesday marked the 20th anniversary of the day the 20year-old woman was killed in Orange County, according to State Police. Her body was found the next day in the town of Wallkill. With the case still unsolved, two law enforcement organizations are offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
Mcdonald’s murder has been on the minds of locals for years. Drivers on Route 17 have seen the prominently placed electronic billboard lit up with her picture and request for information. Last year, police walked around town handing out fliers. Her case has been featured in true crime TV shows, like NBC’S “Dateline” and “Unsolved Mysteries.” The local newspaper, the Times Herald-record writes an annual story about her death.
Though the case is unsolved, it is not considered cold.
Police investigators have expressed they may be close to an arrest of a prime suspect in the murder. The FBI has created a profile of a suspect described as “a classic narcissist who craves control and attention, a man who suffered a blow to his psyche when Megan rejected him and lashed out with blows of his own, bludgeoning the 100-pound woman from behind as she sat in her car,” according to the Times Herald-record.
At the time of her death, Mcdonald worked at the Galleria Mall in the town of Wallkill and was studying at SUNY Orange. Investigators believe she likely was killed in the early hours of March 14, 2003. She was last seen driving into the parking lot of Kensington Manor, an apartment complex located off Freezer Road. Her body was found the following day in a field off Bowser Road, according to State Police — about a 10minute drive from the apartment complex, where her 1991 white Mercury Sable was discovered two days later.
The cause of her death was determined to be blunt force trauma, according to State Police.
Half of the $20,000 reward for information is funded by the New York City Detective’s Endowment Association, the labor union for NYPD detectives; the other $10,000 comes from the FBI. Mcdonald’s father, Dennis, was a retired NYPD homicide detective, according to the Times Herald-record. He died the year before his daughter.
Since May, State Police; the FBI in New York, Florida and
elsewhere; and the NYPD have conducted fresh interviews, including with people who were close with the suspect at the time of Mcdonald’s death, according to the Times Herald-record. The interviews revealed key information about the suspect’s whereabouts on the night of the murder that has helped fill in investigators’ timeline of events, according to the story. State Police Lt. Brad Natalizio, who has worked five years on the case, said “several interviews shed light on a specific detail in one particular piece of evidence, and helped the puzzle fall into place.”
Not surprisingly, investigators have not shown their hand by publicly disclosing exactly what was brought to light.
Anyone with information about Megan Mcdonald’s murder is encouraged to call the State Police’s Bureau of Criminal Investigations in Middletown at 845-3445300. Anonymous tips can be reported to the Troop F Major Crimes unit at 845344-5370 or emailed to crimetip@troopers.ny.gov.