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Mahoney, Tammy 05/08/81; Oneida, New York
Topic Started: Aug 8 2006, 11:55 PM (1,310 Views)
oldies4mari2004
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http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/mahoney_tammy.html
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Tammy Mahoney


Above: Mahoney, circa 1981


Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance

Missing Since: May 8, 1981 from Oneida, New York
Classification: Endangered Missing
Age: 19 years old
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Brown hair. Mahoney's ears are pierced.


Details of Disappearance

Mahoney resided on Lenox Avenue in Oneida, New York. She studied husbandry at the State University Of New York (SUNY)'s Morrisville campus. Mahoney was last seen hitchhiking near the Glenwood Shopping Center on Route 46 in Oneida on May 8, 1981. She planned to travel to Hamilton, New York during the evening. Authorities believe that a group of unidentified young men gave Mahoney a ride to the Oneida Indian Nation Territory, which occupies 32 acres of land along Route 46. Investigators believe that Mahoney was gang-raped and murdered at a party inside a trailer on the Territory shortly afterwards. She was reported as a missing person on May 11, 1981, three days after her disappearance.
Authorities received a tip that Mahoney's body was inside a building that burned down on Lenox Avenue on May 11. An extensive search of the area produced no clues as to her whereabouts. Mahoney's disappearance was reclassified as a probable homicide sometime afterwards.

Investigators announced that they identified several male suspects in Mahoney's presumed murder in the spring of 2002. The men's names have not been publicly released, but not all of the suspects are members of the Oneida Indian Nation. Authorities said that dozens of witnesses were inside the trailer at the time of her homicide. The federal government will prosecute Mahoney's case, since she was allegedly killed on Indian Nation property. Investigators cannot file charges against anyone until her body is recovered.

A man's wallet was turned into authorities by an unidentified individual several days after Mahoney disappeared. The wallet was located on the Territory and investigators said it is connected to her case. The identity of its owner has not been divulged, but officials requested that the person who recovered the item contact detectives in order to obtain additional evidence.

Someone scrawled a message and the names of two alleged suspects on a reward flyer posted in A Guy, A Gal and a Laundromat in Vernon, New York in March 2002. Investigators made a public plea for photos of the Indian Nation Territory and any junked vehicles from May 1981 around the same time. Authorities announced that Mahoney's body may have been placed inside one of the cars immediately after her murder. Officials searched a gravel-covered lot near the Shakowi Cultural Center on the Territory in late June 2002. A pond was located in the area at the time of Mahoney's disappearance, but was filled in sometime afterwards. No evidence was uncovered during the search. Investigators said that they did not believe her remains were still inside the car, but materials related to her case may be inside the vehicle.

Mahoney was born in the Long Island, New York area. She was employed as a groom at Vernon Downs at the time of her disappearance, and planned to become a vetrinarian. Mahoney was planning to move in with her boyfriend shortly after her disappearance; when she vanished, she left behind boxes packed to move and other personal belongings, including her toothbrush. Her case remains unsolved.



Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Madison County Sheriff's Department
315-366-2289
OR
Oneida Police Department
315-363-9111



Source Information
The Oneida Daily Dispatch
The Post-Standard



Updated 1 time since October 12, 2004.

Last updated October 18, 2006; details of disappearance updated.

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Mahoney mystery spawns questionable allegation? Email this page Print this page
Posted: July 08, 2002
by: Jim Adams / Indian Country Today
Click to Enlarge


ONEIDA NATION HOMELANDS, N. Y. Ö Stepped-up investigation of a 21-year-old alleged murder has spawned a secondary mystery involving a doctored Associated Press report and an apparent attempt to smear the Oneida Nation leadership.

The murder case involves the still-unsolved disappearance of Tammy Mahoney, a Long Island native who was last seen hitchhiking on Route 46 near Oneida, N. Y. on May 8, 1981. Investigators are looking into allegations that she was sexually assaulted and murdered at a party on the "original" 32 acres of Oneida Indian land. Apparently on the basis of statements from people who attended the party, the multi-agency task force has identified 12 to 14 suspects. The pace of the investigation is clearly picking up, but the body has not been found and no arrests have been made.

A subsidiary scandal involving charges of slander and a smear campaign against Oneida Indian Nation leadership erupted ironically at the Native Media Awards Gala banquet at the recent 18th annual convention of the Native American Journalists Association. As the main event of the convention, held June 21 in San Diego the banquet featured the presentation of NAJA's Wassaja award for courageous reporting to Paul DeMain, editor of News from Indian Country, a twice-monthly paper in Wisconsin.

Indian Country Today has been told by Sonny Skyhawk and Kenneth Deer, who were among the 300 or so people who attended, that DeMain in a rambling acceptance speech mentioned the Mahoney case and said that unfolding events would involve "the hierarchy" of the Oneida Indian Nation. A similar statement reappeared in the June 28 edition of The Eastern Door, the weekly newspaper of the Kahnawake Mohawk territory edited by Deer.

A lead article under the byline of its staff reporter Ross Montour and consisting mainly of an Associated Press story also contained the sentence, "Investigators are alleging that the trail of evidence is leading to several suspects and that among the suspects being named is a 'top Oneida official.'" (The Oneida Indian Nation is owner of Four Directions Media, Inc., the parent company of Indian Country Today.)

Deer attributed the statement to an Associated Press report from early May, contained in a packet of press clips about the case sent to him by a source he declined to name.

But in comparing this article to the original, Rik Stevens, news editor of the New York AP, ascertained that the statement was not made by the AP.

The AP report contains the sentence, "The names of suspects and potential grand jury witnesses were turned over three weeks ago to the U. S. Attorney's office in Syracuse." The clip relied on by Eastern Door and provided to Indian Country Today includes after "suspects", the added words "which allegedly include the name of a top Oneida Nation official." Although the clip does not carry the name and date of a newspaper, it is sourced not only to AP but also to ICC. The corporate parent of News from Indian Country is Indian Country Communications, Inc., and other stories in a recent copy of the paper also carry the same ICC source mark. News from Indian Country published an article attributed to AP and ICC that included the allegation in its Late May 2002 edition.

By press time, Paul DeMain, editor of News from Indian Country, had not responded to calls about the source of this insertion, but all the members of the Mahoney task force reached by Indian Country Today stated emphatically that it is false.

They denied unequivocally that their work leads to any member of the Oneida Nation hierarchy.

"That's not true," said Douglas Bailey, Undersheriff of the Madison County Sheriff's Department and the lead investigator in the case. "That's an erroneous statement. The investigation of suspects has absolutely no connection to the Oneida Indian Nation government."

Bailey denied that he or anyone on his team had ever talked to DeMain of News from Indian Country or Montour of The Eastern Door. "Never been contacted," he said of DeMain. "Never been contacted," he said of Montour. "These two names are new to me."

Arthur Pierce, Oneida Nation Commissioner of Public Safety and the top law enforcement officer of the Oneida Indian Nation Police Department, added, "The Oneida Nation police have been an integral part of the Tammy Mahoney task force since 1995. Although we have identified some suspects, none of them are or have been governmental officials of the Oneida Nation, and any suggestion to the contrary is outrageous."

Pierce emphasized that his men are fully involved in the task force, which also includes the Madison County Sheriff's Department, the Oneida City Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The investigation has reached a point in which the U. S. Attorney's office in Syracuse is preparing to present evidence to a federal Grand Jury.

"All the agencies meet as a group periodically and share all information candidly," said Pierce.

"The Oneida Nation government has cooperated fully and has supported the Oneida Nation police to be active participants on the task force. Among other things, our investigators have gone out of state to conduct interviews and provided equipment and personnel relative to searches and excavations involved with the investigation."

As reported in the July 3 issue of Indian Country Today, a large Oneida Nation backhoe on June 25 dug up a portion of the parking lot by the Nation's Shako:wi Cultural Center, believed to be the site of a pond in which evidence related to the case might have been dumped. An FBI "Evidence Recovery" team waited at the dig along with personnel from the Sheriff's office and the Oneida Nation police, but nothing was reported to have been found.

Said Pierce, "The Oneida Nation has also put up $5,000 reward money, which is 50 percent of the entire reward money, for information leading to the recovery of Mahoney's body. The FBI has matched that amount.

"The Nation wants to see justice in this matter as much as anyone else, if not more."

David Hollis, Director of Communications and Special Media for the Oneida Indian Nation, issued a statement attacking the report in the Eastern Door:

"There is nothing to suggest that the story by The Eastern Door and the reporter Ross Montour is true. They did, however, violate every canon of responsible journalism with this story, and the suggestion that 'a top Oneida official' is a suspect. They have been duped by others with an anti-Nation agenda into publishing this nonsense, which they shoddily stitched together from other media sources."

Investigators from the task force have told Indian Country Today that they believe they know the people at the party and the alleged killers of Mahoney, from information provided by other participants. They say the case has reached a stage of cat-and-mouse, in which both sides are engaged in psychological war. Investigators are hoping to crack crucial witnesses, who have the choice of dealing with the U.S. Attorney or facing potential indictment as accessories to murder.

On the other side, they say, the suspects believe, mistakenly, that no case can be brought as long as the body is missing. In a situation somewhat the mirror image of the case of Helen Betty Osborne, a Cree Indian girl raped and murdered in Manitoba, Canada in 1971, the identity of the suspects is claimed to be widely known in the small Oneida community and discussed somewhat furtively by both Indians and non-Indians in local bars which prominently feature posters offering the ,000 reward for recovery of the body.

Investigators say the 12 to 14 people at the lethal party included both Indians and non-Indians from ages even younger than age 14 to adult. They indicate that Indian suspects are not exclusively Oneida. They deny however, that anyone from the party now holds or has ever held a position in the Oneida leadership.

Those who have been following the case are now wondering who is the source of the bogus allegation.

http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1026154289

Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


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Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


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http://www.easterndoor.com/archives/12-14/12-14-2.htm


Break in murder case at Oneida 32 Acres

By: Robert A. Baker and Kenneth Deer


Madison County sheriff's investigators say they know who killed Tammy Mahoney 22 years ago and are set to take the case to a federal grand jury. Mahoney was reportedly seen in Oneida 32 Acres just before she was declared a missing person.

Rumours of what happened to her has been circulating for years. She apparently was picked up while hitchhiking and taken to a party at 32 Acres. It is not exactly known where she was murdered but individuals from both 32 Acres and Onondaga may be implicated.

"We feel we're ready for the courtroom," Madison County Undersheriff Doug Bailey said last Tuesday. "We know who killed Tammy Mahoney."

"Those in the inner circle of the rape and murder of Tammy Mahoney are talking," Bailey said. But the decision to seek an indictment is not in the department's hands, Bailey said. That is up to the U.S. attorney's office.

"We have a case, there's no question about that," Bailey said. "It's not just us, it's the FBI, the Madison County Sheriff's Department, the Oneida Police Department and the Oneida Nation Police Department."

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Duncan said he and his office would not comment on any investigation. He did confirm the FBI is investigating the case.

Investigators say Mahoney, 19, a Long Island resident, was gang-raped and murdered on the 32 acre Oneida Nation territory May 8, 1981, the night she disappeared. She was last seen hitchhiking on Route 46, on her way to visit friends in the Hamilton area.

Mahoney's body has never been found. The department is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the location of her body.

Investigators, however, do have informants telling them were the body or body parts may be, Bailey said. With the winter over, Bailey said, his department will follow up on these leads, including one given to the department Tuesday afternoon. He wouldn't elaborate.

Bailey said that without a body, the case would have to go before a grand jury. Because the murder is believed to have occurred on Oneida Nation territory, the suspects will face any charges in federal court, which has jurisdiction over crimes committed on Indian land.

A lot of lies have been told to investigators over the years, Bailey said.

"We want to get those who are lying to us in front of the Grand Jury. Then it will be a criminal offense" to lie, Bailey said. In the past year, deputies have been looking at junked cars on Nation territory. Investigators dug up a former pond on the Oneida Nation in June looking for a car Mahoney might have been placed in after her death. The search turned up nothing.

The department has put up posters in the area that show her picture and give a phone number to call with information.

"Tammy may not be with us, but she walks, talks and breathes because of this investigation," he said.

"The ideal thing, as cops who had to deal with the family, we'd like to bring them their daughter, their sister," Bailey said.


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Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


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http://www.indiancountrynews.com/fullstory.cfm?ID=34

FBI seeks new evidence in Mahoney murder case






by Jolene Walters
Oneida, New York (Oneida Dispatch)


It was a gray day to start the grizzly task of digging for the body of a young woman long deceased.

It was the latest effort to find out the fate of Tammy Mahoney.

On May 26, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents and members of the Madison County Sheriff’s Department huddled under two tents on a property about 100 yards south of Union Street along state Route 46.

About one dozen people, in all, conducted a search of the taped off area. What was found, if anything, was not announced.

Mahoney, then a 19-year-old Oneida resident, was hitch-hiking on the evening of May 8, 1981. She was picked up and apparently taken to a location on the 32-acre Oneida Indian Territory.

According to police information, Mahoney was last seen hitchhiking south on Route 46 near the intersection of Fairview Avenue. She was attempting to get a ride to Hamilton. However, Madison County Sheriffs deputies have developed information that she was taken to a trailer party on the Oneida Indian Nation’s 32-acre territory.

She was never seen again after that night, and her body has never been found. A 23-year investigation has found that Mahoney was raped and brutally murdered that day.

On May 11, 1981, a missing person report was filed with the Oneida City Police.

Last fall, Madison County Sheriff’s department members speculated about conducting a winter dig, but it was continually delayed.

On May 26, an Onondaga County Medical Examiner vehicle was parked in a lot in the Village of the White Pines.

The work began around 9 a.m. and concluded about 4 p.m. Officials were seen sifting bucket-loads of earth through giant framed screens. The area that officials were targeting yesterday was next to a residence on a slight knoll that eventually drops into a low open area.

“The work being done is part of an ongoing investigation of the Tammy Mahoney case,” Madison County Undersheriff Doug Bailey said.

Bailey remained tight-lipped about whether the ground search would continue, or on anything that may have been found on May 26.

The undersheriff, however, denied a rumor that two bodies had been found at the site.

In 2002, Bailey said that tips were still coming in, even after 20 years. Yet the investigation is going slower than he had hoped.

The number of law enforcement agencies working on the case has now expanded to five, with the recent addition of the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department.

Bailey said that anyone who did not directly participate in the rape and murder, but provides information, will not be prosecuted, and any tips will be kept confidential.

In June of 2002, investigators were digging on Oneida Nation Territory in search of forensic evidence, but did not find what they were looking for.

Members of the Sheriff’s department have said that there are other sites on the Nation Territory that have been linked to Mahoney’s rape and murder that may produce results in the investigation.

Through the years investigators have also sought information on abandoned cars that were privately owned and parked at the rear of house trailers on the Territory around 1981.

Bailey and others have also received information that Mahoney might be buried in more than one place, indicating she may have been dismembered.

The case will be heard by a federal grand jury, whether Mahoney’s remains are found or not, but Bailey cannot say when this may be. Names and key witness statements gathered in the Mahoney case were turned over to the United States Attorney’s office within the last two years.

To provide information regarding the Mahoney case contact the Madison County Sheriff’s Department at 315.366.2318; or mail the tip to: Tammy Mahoney Case, P.O. Box 381, Wampsville, NY 13163, or send e-mail to: tmahoney@co.madison.ny.us

©The Oneida Daily Dispatch 2004

Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


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http://mytwobeadsworth.com/ClintHillOneida505.html

Oneida nation women sue council member

Pair accuse Clint Hill of assault, and say his status shielded him in nation court.

Saturday, May 14, 2005
By Glenn Coin

Staff writer

Two Oneida Indian women have filed suit in state court against an Oneida Indian Nation Men's Council member, claiming he assaulted them in 2002.

Maisie Shenandoah and her daughter, Diane Schenandoah, say Clint Hill deliberately rammed into Schenandoah with his chest. She fell backward into her mother, who fell to the ground.

Hill was tried and acquitted of assault and harassment in the Oneida nation court in 2002. The women's family said the court was stacked in his favor because of his position with the nation.

The Madison County district attorney tried to bring Hill to trial, but a judge ruled that would be double jeopardy.

Lawyer Donald Daines, who filed the lawsuit in state Supreme Court on behalf of the women, said civil court is a way for them to finally get justice.

"The fact that Clint Hill happens to be on the Men's Council doesn't give him the right to go around committing assault and battery on elderly women," Daines said.

Shenandoah is 72.

Hill could not be reached for comment.

One of his lawyers, Robert Anello, declined to comment until he files his response in court. Anello did not know when that would be.

The lawsuit was filed Feb. 25 in state Supreme Court. The two women say they were walking on Oneida nation territory July 7, 2002, in Oneida with two Madison County sheriff's deputies.

The deputies were investigating the 1981 still-unsolved murder of Tammy Mahoney.

Hill drove up in his car, the lawsuit says, got out and began yelling obscenities at the women. He "immediately lunged at plaintiff Diane Schenandoah, ramming and butting plaintiff Diane with his chest and belly," the suit says.

Schenandoah fell backward into her mother, who "violently struck the back of her head on the gravel driveway," according to the lawsuit. "The incident left Maisie dazed, shaken and in shock."

The allegations are similar to criminal charges first brought by Madison County prosecutors in 2002 in Oneida City Court. Oneida nation prosecutors filed similar charges against Hill in nation court just two weeks later.

Hill asked for a speedy trial in tribal court, and was acquitted after the plaintiffs refused to testify. The women said they did not recognize the legitimacy of the nation court.

Shenandoah and her daughters have long opposed the leadership of nation representative Ray Halbritter, who is Shenandoah's nephew.

© 2005 The Post-Standard.
Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
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http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1027089740

Web report on Oneida officials was 'mistake,' editor says Email this page Print this page
Posted: July 19, 2002
by: Jim Adams / Indian Country Today


ONEIDA NATION HOMELANDS, N.Y. Ö Paul DeMain, editor of News From Indian County, a twice-monthly newspaper in Ojibwe territory in Wisconsin, is acknowledging that he is the source of a report saying that the investigation of an alleged murder 21 years ago on Oneida land involves a "top Oneida Nation official."

The statement is universally denied by agents of several jurisdictions investigating the disappearance and alleged murder of Tammy Mahoney, at the time a 19-year-old college student last seen hitch-hiking in the city of Oneida on May 8, 1981. Spokesmen for the investigation deny that they ever talked to DeMain.

DeMain confirmed to Indian Country Today that he did not interview law enforcement officials. He said his statement, inserted as a phrase in an Associated Press story, was derived from "four different people" in New York who he said were familiar with the details of the alleged crime and the people suspected of committing it.

He said he relied on these sources in rewriting the last paragraph of an Associated Press story, drawn from a Syracuse Post-Standard story saying that federal prosecutors were reviewing the case. The rewritten sentence read: "The names of several suspects, which allegedly include the name of a top Oneida Nation official and potential grand jury witnesses were turned over in April to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Syracuse, N.Y., because the alleged crimes occurred on Indian land at the Oneida's original 32-acre reservation site."

Although DeMain's story drew little notice at the time, he provided a clip to Kenneth Deer, editor of the Eastern Door, a Mohawk paper based on the Kahnawake territory in Canada. Ross Montour, a staff writer at the Eastern Door, incorporated the story with subsequent Associated Press reports and his version received wide circulation on the native email circuit.

Montour's story closely followed AP reports of the excavation of a former pond, now parking lot, near the Oneida Shako:wi Cultural Center in a search for evidence. (These reports, attributed to the AP, also appeared in the July 3 issue of Indian Country Today.)

Although the Eastern Door story added only two new elements to the reports, it did not credit the AP. One of the new elements was the statement in a headline that more than one official was implicated; Deer now says that the use of the plural was a typographical mistake. The other new word was the insertion of the adverb "ironically" before the factual statement that the heavy equipment in the excavation was supplied by the Oneida Indian Nation.

County and state investigators consistently say that Oneida Nation police have cooperated fully in the investigation and in fact have helped develop leads that have dramatically quickened its pace. Rumors about the probe have inevitably become entangled in a long-running internal feud pitting members of the Shenandoah family against the leadership of the Oneida Nation, but Deer said he now doubts that either faction is involved in the crime.

Indian Country Today interviews with investigators also indicated that the probe does not appear to be heading toward members of the opposition either.



Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.


In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
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Mahoney murder case remains active; $10,000 reward still available
Published: Friday, May 8, 2009

By LYNN COLLIER
Dispatch Staff Writer


WAMPSVILLE — It has been 28 years since 19-year-old Oneida resident Tammy Mahoney went missing and was reportedly brutally murdered and raped by a group of people on the Oneida Indian Nation Territory.

But Madison County Undersheriff Doug Bailey said investigators are still working hard to answer questions and solve the case, now with the help of technology.

Through the years, despite a number of searches and digs, Mahoney’s body has never been recovered, but Bailey said progress has been made, even though it has been slow-going at times.

The FBI and U.S. Attorney General’s Office are also committed to solving this case, Bailey said, noting that FBI agents have been all over the country for interviews and to check up on leads.

“It’s not a cold case. It never has been. It’s been cool,” he said.

But through the years, investigators have tracked down some important pieces of information, including some related to who picked Tammy up as she was hitchhiking on May 8, 1981.

“We now know what kind of car it was and who was driving,” Bailey said. “We’re no longer looking for the ‘phantom car’ that picked Tammy up and took her to the territory.”

Beyond that, investigators are still looking for some crucial information related to the case, but Bailey said the investigation is still going strong.

“This case is very current right now,” he said.

And also current is the integration of some technology in the case. In Feb. 2008, Bailey said the department began using software created by the New York State Police tailored to this case’s needs, which will take the place of many binders worth of information that can now be organized and condensed thanks to a computer program.

The end result is that leads and other information will be easier to keep track of. As of 2002, Bailey said the Sheriff’s Department has received more than 600 leads and expects many more to come the department’s way, hence the need for the new technology.

“That’s how complex it is,” he said. “That’s why we need to go to computers for it.”

Having the data in this form will also be helpful to prosecutors when the case goes to court.

Technology also allows the department to receive data when an unidentified body is discovered in the country and matches up to information about Mahoney found in the U.S. missing persons database. Sometimes, contact with other law enforcement agencies is made to check up further, Bailey said.

Over these 28 years, Bailey said Oneida Nation Police, Oneida City Police and State Police have also been helpful as the investigation has continued. Many people have come forward with information as well, some of which has been very useful.

But Bailey said that some people who have important information have not been entirely forthcoming, though that does not mean the pursuit of that information stops.

“The mentality of some of the people we question in this case is that if we’re out of sight, we go away. Because we’re out of the radar scope, we go away,” he said. “We don’t go away.”

Bailey said the department has always been committed to solving this case, and five or six investigators continue to regularly look into leads. Bailey also still communicates with Mahoney’s family, including her mother, who he said he spoke to recently. The goal continues to be to resolve this case.

“I’ve always felt it could reach a successful conclusion,” he said.

Bailey said that there is still a $10,000 reward for the location of Mahoney’s body, though with the right evidence, Bailey said they can proceed without finding it.

At the same time, he is hoping people will continue to come through with information if they have any.

“I would encourage people to make contact with us,” he said. “The police are only as good as what the public can provide us with.”

The best way to get this information across is by calling the Madison County Sheriff’s Office’s major crime and drug tips hotline at 366-2429 or by e-mail:

tmahoney@co.madison.ny.us

Bailey said information given can be anonymous, but he hopes to be able to contact people if they do come forward with information.
http://www.oneidadispatch.com/articles/200...24393297057.txt
Ell

Only after the last tree has been
cut down;
Only after the last fish has been
caught;
Only after the last river has been
poisoned;
Only then will you realize
that money cannot be eaten.
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http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/mahoney_tammy.html

Tammy Mahoney
Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
Missing Since: May 8, 1981 from Oneida, New York
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date of Birth: August 29, 1961
Age: 19 years old
Height and Weight: 5'3, 130 pounds

Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Brown hair, green eyes. Mahoney's ears are pierced. She has freckles. Her nails are short and she may bite them. Mahoney fractured her lower leg as a child.

Clothing/Jewelry Description: A dark-colored v-neck sweater or sweatshirt with white embroidery at the neck and wrists; blue jeans or bib overalls with a 29-inch waist; a dark-colored or denim jacket; a size 36D bra; and possibly size 6 clogs, sandals or white low-top sneakers; a size 5 - 6 silver ring with a green stone; a small cross necklace with turquoise stones; and a very thin dime-sized metal medallion depicting a guardian angel and a bridge with two children crossing.

Details of Disappearance
Mahoney resided with her boyfriend in the 100 block of Lenox Avenue in Oneida, New York. She had studied husbandry at the State University Of New York (SUNY)'s Morrisville campus during 1979 and 1980 and stated she wanted to become a vetrinarian, but she did not return to school for the second year. Mahoney was last seen hitchhiking near the <i>Glenwood Shopping Center</i> on Route 46 in Oneida at 7:45 a.m. on May 8, 1981. She planned to travel to Hamilton, New York during the evening.

Authorities believe that a group of unidentified young men gave Mahoney a ride to the Oneida Indian Nation Territory, which occupies 32 acres of land along Route 46.

Mahoney's boyfriend reported her as a missing person on May 11, 1981, three days after her disappearance. She has gone missing before, but always returned within a short time; prior to May 1981, the longest period she had ever been gone was eighteen days. She had been employed as a groom at Vernon Downs, but quit her job a week before she went missing. She did not tell anyone of this and left her apartment every morning as if she were going to work.

She had applied for another job in the newsroom at the Oneida Daily Dispatch, and stated on the application that she had left her previous job because it was too far away from her home. She often hitchhiked to work when she could not find friends to give her a ride. Mahoney and her boyfriend were planning to move out of their apartment in May 1981, and she left behind all her belongings packed for the move, including her toothbrush.

Her family lived on Long Island, New York at the time of her disappearance. They stated she was close to them and kept in regular contact, and they did not believe she would have left without warning.

Investigators believe that Mahoney was gang-raped and murdered at a party inside a trailer on the Oneida Indian Nation Territory shortly after she was last seen. Authorities received a tip that Mahoney's body was inside a building that burned down on Lenox Avenue on May 11.

An extensive search of the area produced no clues as to her whereabouts. Mahoney's disappearance was reclassified as a probable homicide sometime afterwards.

Investigators announced that they identified several male suspects in Mahoney's presumed murder in the spring of 2002. The men's names have not been publicly released, but not all of the suspects are members of the Oneida Indian Nation.

Authorities said that dozens of witnesses were inside the trailer at the time of her homicide, and the murder suspects still live in the local area. The federal government will prosecute Mahoney's case, since she was allegedly killed on Indian Nation property. Investigators cannot file charges against anyone until her body is recovered.

A man's wallet was turned into authorities by an unidentified individual several days after Mahoney disappeared. The wallet was located on the Territory and investigators said it is connected to her case. The identity of its owner has not been divulged, but officials requested that the person who recovered the item contact detectives in order to obtain additional evidence.

Someone scrawled a message and the names of two alleged suspects on a reward flyer posted in Vernon, New York in March 2002. Investigators made a public plea for photos of the Indian Nation Territory and any junked vehicles from May 1981 around the same time. Authorities announced that Mahoney's body may have been placed inside one of the cars immediately after her murder. Officials searched a gravel-covered lot near the on the Territory in late June 2002. A pond was located in the area at the time of Mahoney's disappearance, but was filled in sometime afterwards. No evidence was uncovered during the search.

Investigators said that they did not believe her remains were still inside the car, but materials related to her case may be inside the vehicle.

Mahoney was born in the Long Island, New York area. She was employed as a groom at the time of her disappearance, and planned to become a veterinarian. Her case remains unsolved.

Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Madison County Sheriff's Department
315-366-2289
OR
Oneida Police Department
315-363-9111
Source Information
http://www.oneidadispatch.com/ The Oneida Daily Dispatch
http://www.syracuse.com/
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Investigators announced that they identified several male suspects in Mahoney's presumed murder in the spring of 2002. The men's names have not been publicly released, but not all of the suspects are members of the Oneida Indian Nation. Authorities said that dozens of witnesses were inside the trailer at the time of her homicide. The federal government will prosecute Mahoney's case, since she was allegedly killed on Indian Nation property. Investigators cannot file charges against anyone until her body is recovered.
Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance

Missing Since: May 8, 1981 from Oneida, New York
Classification: Endangered Missing
Age: 19 years old
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Brown hair. Mahoney's ears are pierced.

Details of Disappearance

Mahoney resided on Lenox Avenue in Oneida, New York. She studied husbandry at the State University Of New York (SUNY)'s Morrisville campus. Mahoney was last seen hitchhiking near the Glenwood Shopping Center on Route 46 in Oneida on May 8, 1981. She planned to travel to Hamilton, New York during the evening. Authorities believe that a group of unidentified young men gave Mahoney a ride to the Oneida Indian Nation Territory, which occupies 32 acres of land along Route 46. Investigators believe that Mahoney was gang-raped and murdered at a party inside a trailer on the Territory shortly afterwards. She was reported as a missing person on May 11, 1981, three days after her disappearance.
Authorities received a tip that Mahoney's body was inside a building that burned down on Lenox Avenue on May 11. An extensive search of the area produced no clues as to her whereabouts. Mahoney's disappearance was reclassified as a probable homicide sometime afterwards.

Investigators announced that they identified several male suspects in Mahoney's presumed murder in the spring of 2002. The men's names have not been publicly released, but not all of the suspects are members of the Oneida Indian Nation. Authorities said that dozens of witnesses were inside the trailer at the time of her homicide. The federal government will prosecute Mahoney's case, since she was allegedly killed on Indian Nation property. Investigators cannot file charges against anyone until her body is recovered.

A man's wallet was turned into authorities by an unidentified individual several days after Mahoney disappeared. The wallet was located on the Territory and investigators said it is connected to her case. The identity of its owner has not been divulged, but officials requested that the person who recovered the item contact detectives in order to obtain additional evidence.

Someone scrawled a message and the names of two alleged suspects on a reward flyer posted in A Guy, A Gal and a Laundromat in Vernon, New York in March 2002. Investigators made a public plea for photos of the Indian Nation Territory and any junked vehicles from May 1981 around the same time. Authorities announced that Mahoney's body may have been placed inside one of the cars immediately after her murder. Officials searched a gravel-covered lot near the Shakowi Cultural Center on the Territory in late June 2002. A pond was located in the area at the time of Mahoney's disappearance, but was filled in sometime afterwards. No evidence was uncovered during the search. Investigators said that they did not believe her remains were still inside the car, but materials related to her case may be inside the vehicle.

Mahoney was born in the Long Island, New York area. She was employed as a groom at Vernon Downs at the time of her disappearance, and planned to become a vetrinarian. Mahoney was planning to move in with her boyfriend shortly after her disappearance; when she vanished, she left behind boxes packed to move and other personal belongings, including her toothbrush. Her case remains unsolved
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Only after the last tree has been
cut down;
Only after the last fish has been
caught;
Only after the last river has been
poisoned;
Only then will you realize
that money cannot be eaten.
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Wed, 07 Apr 2010 22:45:32 GMT — In Madison County, investigators in the City of Oneida are trying to excavate and analyze a set of bones that was found by a woman fishing near a creek. A special team of medical examiners is unearthing the body. They'll be looking into two missing persons cases in the city that could be connected.

Twenty one year old Christine Markey has been missing since 1993. Nineteen year old Tammy Mahoney vanished back in 1981.

The process of excavating the body in Oneida is a very delicate process. Forensic experts are unearthing the full human skeleton inch by inch.

Oneida City Police Chief David Meeker said, "It's a slow process just to make sure that we don't miss something, any jewelry, clothing, any of that stuff. We want to make sure we get all that, remove it, get it sealed as evidence."

The chief says there is some material with the body, possibly clothing. Right now, police don't know how long the body's been there or if there was foul play involved. There are some teeth intact so the chief says that could help with identification. "It'll be easier once the information is there because we can send out a teletype saying this is the dental record. They'll match it up with missing persons try to come up with one that we have from this area or someplace else."

The chief says other nearby agencies that have open missing persons cases have contacted his department.

Wednesday afternoon, the Oneida City Police took pictures of the scene from the air and removed some possible evidence. The chief says it could take a few days to completely unearth the body.

"Once the medical examiner's get the body, they'll take it get it back try to identify how long its been here, if it's a male or female, height, and try to give us an idea on the age," said chief Meeker.


The chief says that's only the beginning of this story, then investigators have to figure out why this body is out here.
Ell

Only after the last tree has been
cut down;
Only after the last fish has been
caught;
Only after the last river has been
poisoned;
Only then will you realize
that money cannot be eaten.
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