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 Each month, Crime Alert Berks County and local media, including 69 News, team up to profile an unsolved crime in Berks County. The goal is to help investigators receive information that may solve the crime. Crime Alert offers up to a $10,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest. The toll-free number to call with your annonymous tip is 1-877-373-9913. CLICK HERE for a list of the cases we've profiled.
UNSOLVED HOMICIDE -- 2001  Victim: Rosa Gonzalez
Location: 231 North Front Street, Reading
Date/Time Incident Discovered/Occurred: August 4, 2001, at 4:52 AM
Synopsis: Rosa Gonzalez was part of a group sitting on the front porch of 231 North Front Street when a Burgundy colored vehicle approached at a slow rate of speed. An unknown individual started shooting at the persons on the porch from inside the car. The victim died from a wound to the abdomen. It is possible that a second person, not inside the car, also fired shots.
UNSOLVED HOMICIDE -- 2002
 Victim: Hope Babel
Location: 730 Main Street, Shoemakersville
Date/Time Incident Discovered/Occurred: Saturday, September 6, 2002, at 11:44 PM
Synopsis: The body of Hope Babel was found beaten inside her burning apartment in Shoemakersville on September 7, 2002. She died of carbon monoxide poisoning.
UNSOLVED HOMICIDE -- 1999
 Victim: Frank Ferrante, Jr., age 57
Location: Heritage Park, near 6th and Canal streets, Reading
Date/Time Incident Discovered/Occurred: April - May 16, 1999
Synopsis: A pair of canoers found the body of 57-year-old Frank Ferrante, Jr. in the Schuylkill River, near the painted rock, in Cumru Township on May 16, 1999. A woman came forward in 2004 to tell police Ferrante was sitting along the riverbank with a friend in April of 1999 when a man came up from behind and hit him four times in the head. She claims the attacker then robbed Ferrante and threw or rolled his body into the river.
UNSOLVED HOMICIDE -- 2000
Victim: Mark Caruso, age 42
Location: North 4th Street, Reading
Date/Time Incident Discovered/Occurred: September 9, 2000, approximately 4:30AM.
Synopsis: 42-year-old Mark Caruso walked out of his apartment on Walnut Street in Reading and turned the corner onto North 4th Street. Police say someone ran up behind him and hit him in the head. Caruso died of his injuries at Reading Hospital later that night. Police believe a surveillance camera may have caught his killer running away from the scene.
UNSOLVED HOMICIDE -- 1993
 Victim: Louise M. Weyandt, age 35
Location: Base of the Penn Street Bridge, City of Reading
Date/Time Incident Discovered/Occurred: April 9, 1993.
Synopsis: On April 9, 1993, Louise, 35, of 154 Walnut St. was found nude with five large rocks piled on top of her at the base of a Penn Street Bridge support by three men going to fish in the Schuylkill River there that day. The cause of death was compression of the neck and chest caused by the rocks put on top of her while she was lying there, according to the Berks County coroner's office. The homicide was one of the more unusual of the roughly 200 slayings in the city since 1990. The rocks used to kill Weyandt and cover her body were heavy. That area near the river was not all paved in 1993. There were rocks still around from the bridge construction decades earlier. Weyandt was seen leaving her residence about 11 p.m. the night before heading to a store in the 300 block of Penn Street for cigarettes. She was also seen a short time later in the block with two males. The crime scene yielded DNA and other evidence.
UPDATE: Steven Simpson was arrested in December 2005 and charged with the murder of Louise Weyandt.
UNSOLVED HOMICIDE -- 1995
Victim: Leroy Lott, age 60
Location: 1145 Fairview Street,
Date/Time Incident Discovered/Occurred: November 3, 1995.
Synopsis: On November 3, 1995, Leroy Lott took a cab to the Bank of Pennsylvania branch at 1150 Muhlenberg Street, where he withdrew approximately $800.00 in cash. He then left the bank in the same cab and stopped at an east Reading grocery store before returning to his residence. He entered his first floor apartment and left the door unlocked. Lott told responding police officers that he took a short nap and awoke to a noise. He then saw a male standing in his living room. The male approached him and used a club type instrument to assault Lott about the head and body. Lott was able to provide a description of the attacker to the first arriving officer. The suspect was described as a white male with brown hair. He was about 6’ tall and weighed about 200 pounds. The suspect removed the victim’s money from his pants pocket after the assault. The victim died on November 17, 1995 as a result of massive head injuries caused by blunt force trauma to the head.
UNSOLVED HOMICIDE -- 2002
Victim: John J. Bronchik, age 32
Location: 4th & Woodward Streets, Reading, PA.
Date/Time Incident Discovered/Occurred: Sunday, February 3, 2002.
Synopsis: The Reading Police continue to investigate the unsolved gunshot slaying of John Bronchik who was found lying in a parking lot at Fourth and Woodward Streets, bleeding from a gunshot wound to the chest. Bronchik's body was discovered on Sunday, February 3, 2002 by a passerby who called 911. Investigators believe that the body was there less than an hour. Bronchik was not robbed and there was no damage to his car which was parked next to where his body fell.
UNSOLVED HOMICIDE -- 2001
 Victim: Cynthia Baver, age 47
Location: 1142 North 10th Street, Reading, PA
Date/Time Incident Discovered/Occurred: Sunday, April 8, 2001.
Synopsis: The Reading Police continue to investigate an unsolved homicide that was discovered on Sunday, April 8, 2001. On that Sunday, Reading Police Officers discovered the victim's body inside 1142 North 10th Street. Police found a window was broken and a pair of scissors were used in the attack. The victim had been stabbed several times. Blood samples and other DNA evidence was collected at the scene, but there have been no matches to date.
UNSOLVED HOMICIDE -- 2000
Victim: Arnaldo Rodriguez, age 21, (Also known as "Nando")
Location: 101 West Buttonwood Street, Reading, PA.
Date/Time Incident Discovered/Occurred: Wednesday, December 20, 2000, at about 10:47 PM
Synopsis: The Reading Police continue to investigate an unsolved homicide that occurred on December 20, 2000. On that Wednesday at approximately 10:47 PM, Reading Police Officers were dispatched to 101 West Buttonwood St. to investigate a shooting/man down. Upon arrival, officers found a male on the sidewalk that appeared to be critically wounded. The male was transported to Reading Hospital and was pronounced dead at the hospital. The victim had been identified as Arnaldo Rodriguez. Investigators learned that the victim had been on the sidewalk in front of the Chinese Rest. located at Front & W. Buttonwood. The suspect approached the victim from behind a grabbed the victim's shoulder and turned victim around and fired several shots into the victim's body. Suspect was described as a dark skinned male, late teens to early 20's. Autopsy was concluded and showed that victim's death was caused by gunshot wounds to chest, abdomen and pelvic area.
UNSOLVED HOMICIDE -- 2001
 Victim: Unknown
Location: Quarry Road, 1/10 mile south of Route 10, Caernarvon Township
Date/Time Incident Discovered/Occurred: August 21, 2001, 7:00PM
Synopsis: A person walking along Quarry Road discovered a garbage bag containing the decomposing body of Jane Doe. The bag was in the weeds about 20 feet from the road. Jane Doe is described as a black female, 25-35 years of age, 5’5” tall and weighing about 130 pounds. The victim was wearing purple shorts, a black bra, a handkerchief on her head, hoops earrings (ears were pierced once) and pink/purple nail polish. An autopsy failed to determine the cause of death. The victim had a scar from a hysterectomy. She had no tattoos. Her teeth were near perfect with no fillings.
UNSOLVED HOMICIDE -- 1997
 Victim: Malik Molina
Location: K239 South 8th Street, Reading
Date/Time Incident Discovered/Occurred: Sunday, December 21, 1997 at 4:46 AM
Synopsis: On Sunday, December 21, 1997 at 4:46 AM, Reading Police Department patrol officers responded to 239 South 8th Street to investigate reports of shots fired. Upon arrival, officers looked inside 239 South 8th Street and discovered the decedent, Malik Molina, on his back on the living room floor. Officers immediately entered the home and discovered a toddler asleep on a living room sofa, which was directly beneath a window which appeared to have been damaged by a bullet. Police searched the home and were surprised to find several other young children sleeping in second floor bedrooms. Police later learned that the victim was baby-sitting seven children the night he was killed. The victim was last seen alive at 3:30 AM by a female who had been braiding the victim’s hair inside the home. Cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head.
UNSOLVED HOMICIDE -- 1992
 Victim: Dominic Samuel Martorana, 45 years old.
Location: Kernsville Dam, along the west shore of the Schuylkill River, 3/10th mile north of the dam breast, ½ mile north of the Borough of Hamburg, Tilden Township, Berks County
Date/Time Incident Discovered/Occurred: Sometime between Tuesday, March 24, 1992 at 8:52 PM and Wednesday, March 25, 1992 at 10:45 AM
Synopsis: The victim, who was a driver for the Reading Metro Taxi Company, was discovered by a local couple, lying in shallow water about four feet from the west shore of the Schuylkill River. They drove to the state police barracks in Hamburg to report their findings. The investigation showed that the victim picked up a fare shortly before 9:00PM on Tuesday, March 24. The fare was picked up on north 5th Street in Reading and was to go to Wyomissing. There was no further radio contact between the cab company and the victim. A call was received at the Reading State Police Barracks from the Lower Alsace Police Department reporting that a Reading Metro Taxi had been set on fire on Skyline Drive at the intersection with List Road at about 1:00AM, March 25, 1992. Investigation proved it was the cab that the victim had been driving. The victim died as a result of a severed carotid artery. An autopsy showed the victim had been stabbed in excess of 30 times.
UNSOLVED HOMICIDE -- 1998
 Victim: Anna Jean Kane, age 26
Location: Ontelaunee Trail, 3/10 mile east of SR662, Perry Township Berks County.
Date/Time Incident Discovered/Occurred: Sunday, October 23, 1988 Between 12:01AM and 3:10PM
Synopsis: On October 23, 1988, the body of Anna Jean Kane was found in a stand of trees about 10’ south of Ontelaunee Trail and about two miles west of the Village of Moselem. Scene examination suggests that Kane was strangled elsewhere and dumped at this location sometime after midnight. Kane was wearing a blue waist length jacket, tan khaki slacks and a black mesh or lace nightgown. Kane carried no identification. Investigation revealed that Kane had been reported missing to the Reading Police Department earlier that date. A photograph of Kane from the Reading Police was compared to a Polaroid of the victim and it was determined they were one in the same. At the time of her death, Kane lived in Birdsboro where she had recently moved from Reading.
UNSOLVED HOMICIDE -- 1999
 Victim: Gary Miller, age 43
Location: Parking lot of the Route 222 News & Adult Gift Store
Date/Time Incident Discovered/Occurred: Friday, August 6, 1999 at approximately 1:45 AM
Synopsis: Cumru Township Police continue their investigation into the death of Gary Miller in 1999. The victim was involved in a shooting and motor vehicle accident in Cumru Township. Miller was sitting in his vehicle on the parking lot of the Route 222 News and Adult Gift Store on Aug. 6, 1999 at approximately 1:45 AM. Shots were fired and the victim attempted to flee. Miller drove off the lot onto northbound Route 222. Miller’s vehicle coasted approximately 300 feet and veered off the right side of the roadway crashing through a split rail fence on the property of Sport Cycle Suzuki. Miller’s vehicle continued across the parking lot of Sport Cycle Suzuki and struck a tree. Police arrived and found Miller unconscious. Miller died on scene from gunshot wounds a short time after police arrived. Investigation found the victim was not in the store and appeared he may have been waiting for someone to arrive.
UNSOLVED HOMICIDE -- 1989
Victim: Frank Regenfuse, age 24
Location: Corner of Chestnut & Peach Streets in the City of Reading, PA.
Date/Time Incident Discovered/Occurred: Sunday, April 16, 1989, at approximately 1:40 AM
Synopsis: On Saturday, April 15, 1989, Frank Regenfuse attended a 50’s style dance at the Riverside Beneficial Club, sponsored by the Pike Travelers Club. He arrived at the dance at approximately 8:00 PM. Police are aware that Regenfuse had been involved in a verbal altercation at the dance. Regenfuse left the dance at approximately 12:15 AM on April 16, 1989. He was transported to 5th & Chestnut Streets by a friend. He was dropped off at approximately 12:30 AM. He had told his friend he was going to walk to a downtown club. Regenfuse was last seen alive leaving a downtown club at 1:30 AM. On Sunday, April 16, 1989 at 1:40 AM the Reading Police were dispatched to the intersection of Chestnut Street and Peach Street to investigate reports of a man down. Upon arrival, officers found the victim on the ground. He had been fatally stabbed. He was transported to Saint Joseph Hospital and pronounced dead.
UNSOLVED HOMICIDE -- 2001
Victim: Lisa Anne Carabello, age 40
Location: 57 West Wyomissing Avenue, Mohnton Borough
Date/Time Incident Discovered/Occurred: Thursday, February 8, 2001, between 12:30 PM and 3:54 PM
Synopsis: The March, 2004 unsolved cold case is from the PA State Police of Reading. It is the case of Lisa Anne Carabello, age 40 of Mohnton. On February 8, 2001, the victim’s 12 year old son came home from school and found his mother lying at the bottom of a flight of stairs. The victim had been stabbed numerous times. The son called 9-1-1 and Mohnton Borough Police responded. Mohnton Police requested the PA State Police to respond and take over the investigation.
UNSOLVED HOMICIDE -- 1991
Victim: Kathleen Raifsnider, age 35
Location: Mount Laurel Road, Muhlenberg Township
Date/Time Incident Discovered/Occurred: July 5, 1991, between 4PM and 10:45PM
Synopsis: 35-year-old Kathleen Raifsnider was found shot three times and stabbed in the bathtub of her home on Mount Laurel Road in Muhlenberg Township on July 5, 1991. Police say her home was also ransacked.
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