In Episode 7 we started to really focus in on Suzanne Lyall. Her demeanor, her hopes and dreams, her self esteem, her hobbies and interests.
Her family spoke of her artistic abilities, sewing sequins on clothing and selling stuffed bunnies she sewed. They reminisced over her kindhearted nature and her ponderous way of looking at the world.
In this episode we focus on the last two years of Suzy's high school career and her relationship with Rich Condon, whom she dated up until her disappearance on March 2, 1998.
We speak to friends of Suzy's from high school who describe her as being open to everyone and had the ability to easily float between the different groups and cliques at school. She had a close circle of friends, but everyone liked Suzy. We explore more of her poetry, and discuss how there were aspects of Suzy's life that she kept to herself. No amount of prying or pushing would get her to speak what was on her mind if she didn't want to.
As I've stated multiple times throughout this season Rich Condon and his family, although very close to Suzy before her disappearance, are not interested in speaking with The Cold Case Analysis Center or Upstate Unsolved regarding Suzy. Their relationship defined much of her Junior and Senior years of high school. He was her date for school dances, they spent the majority of weekends together and a large portion of time on the computer chatting or talking on the phone with each other.
Examining a high school relationship that started nearly 25 years ago is extremely difficult. Young love is so confusing and can be tricky to navigate. But what makes it harder is that we don't have input from the only other person who knows exactly how their relationship was. -Phoebe LaFave
Listen to Episode 8 on the iHeartRadio app and everywhere podcasts are available.