In the First Episode of Upstate Unsolved, A New Beginning, we introduced the 1998 disappearance of University of Albany student Suzanne Lyall. We brought you behind the scenes, detailing the serendipitous way myself, The Cold Case Analysis Center and Suzy's mother Mary Lyall all came together at just the right time.
In Episode 2, In Her Footsteps, we retrace Suzy's steps on her last known day of March 2, 1998.
There's an old saying that before you judge someone you must first walk a mile in their shoes, it's a phrase about empathy and how you need to understand people's experiences, their thought processes and challenges instead of making a snap judgement.
That's why Mary, the Director and students from the Cold Case Analysis Center and I traveled to Crossgates Mall, then to UAlbany to take in what she would have seen walking where she would have walked.
After taking her midterm on the morning of March 2nd Suzy attended classes until 4 PM before heading to work. Before boarding a bus to Crossgates she took $20 out of an ATM at the Key Bank near UAlbany's Uptown campus. When she arrived at Crossgates, she took out another $20 before heading to her job at Babbage's.
Suzy left her job at the mall around 9 PM and boarded a bus back to campus around 9:20. The driver who regularly worked the route recognized her picture but was not certain he saw her get off at the Collins Circle stop on campus, which was only a short walk to her Colonial Quad dorm.
However, a fellow student observed Suzy getting of the bus around 9:45, becoming the last known sighting of Suzanne Lyall.
In this episode we discuss the days surrounding her disappearance and the mysterious item found at UAlbany two months after Suzy went missing.
Episodes 1 and 2 are available now on the iHeartRadio App and everywhere podcasts are available.
Photo: Mary Lyall