Nineteen-year-old Tammy Mahoney disappeared from Oneida, New York, one-hundred-seventy-five miles east of Buffalo, on May 8, 1981. The town of 12,000 people is named for the Indian tribe and multiple people in the Oneida nation are believed to be responsible.
Tammy Mahoney
Although she had plenty of friends and was close to her family, Tammy had always been something of a free spirit. She often went away for extensive periods of time without telling anyone. On one excursion she had left unannounced for three weeks before returning home.
This time, however, Tammy’s boyfriend, Karl Lockwood, had a bad feeling because she was looking forward to their moving from their Oneida apartment to nicer living quarters and had packed many items in preparation. He reported her missing on May 11, three days after she was last seen.
A Free Spirit
Tammy frequently hitchhiked when she was unable to get a ride and she was seen doing so near the Glenwood Shopping Center on Route 46 in Oneida at 7:45 a.m. on May 8. She planned to go to Hamilton, twenty miles south of Oneida.
Investigators believe Tammy was picked up by a group of young men, many of whom were members of the Oneida Nation. They are believed to have taken her to a trailer on the Oneida Indian Nation Territory, occupying thirty-two acres of land along Route 46, where a party was being held that evening. Several attendees reported seeing Tammy at the party appearing to be having a good time. Later in the evening, however, she was seen leaving after an altercation.
Last Seen Leaving A Party
On May 11, three days after Tammy was last seen and the day Karl reported her missing, a building burned on Lenox Avenue in Oneida, only a few miles from their apartment.
Police received an anonymous phone call claiming Tammy’s body was inside the building, but it proved false. A search of the central New York area also failed to produce any clues to her whereabouts.
No Tammy
Nearly two weeks later, a men’s wallet was given to police by a man who said he found it on the Oneida Indian Territory. The man’s name was not taken and police, at the time, had no reason to believe the wallet was connected to Tammy’s disappearance. Later, however, they came to believe it is pertinent to her case, but they have not divulged specifics. The identity of its owner has also not been revealed.
Officials publicly appealed to the man who turned in the wallet to contact them, but he never came forward.
Public Pleas Fall On Deaf Ears
In March 2002, over twenty years after Tammy Mahoney’s disappearance, authorities announced they believe she was gang-raped and murdered by twelve-to-fourteen men who had attended the party at which she was last seen. Investigators originally said many, but not all, of the suspects are members of the Oneida Indian Nation; they now say all of them are members. They believed they had enough evidence against several of the men to take to a grand jury, but the Madison County prosecutor disagreed, and no charges were filed.
Authorities say many of the suspects still live in central New York, but they have not released the names of any of the men. Karl Lockwood, Tammy’s boyfriend at the time of her disappearance, is not among the suspects.
Shortly after the police made their announcement, the names of two of the suspects were found scrawled on a reward flyer posted at the A Guy, A Gal and a Laundromat in Vernon, New York, six miles east of Oneida.
Investigators say they have information suggesting’s Tammy’s body was placed in car after she was killed and that the vehicle was junked after her body was disposed. A search of a graveled lot near the Shako:Wi Cultural Center, located on Oneida Indian Territory, failed to find any vehicles, Tammy’s remains, or anything relating to her disappearance.
Several Suspects
In 2019, the FBI reiterated the importance of finding the man who turned in the wallet two weeks after Tammy’s disappearance. They emphasize they do not believe he took part in Tammy’s disappearance and likely murder, but that he may have valuable information regarding her case.
Seeking Information
Tammy Mahoney has been missing from Oneida, New York, since May 8, 1981. At the time of her disappearance, she was nineteen-years-old, five-feet-three inches tall, and weighed one-hundred-thirty pounds. She had brown hair, green eyes, and multiple freckles on her face. Her fingernails were short and she often bit them. Tammy had also fractured her leg when she was younger.
Still Missing
A $20,000 reward is offered for information leading to the location of Tammy Mahoney’s remains. Once they are found, the federal government is likely to prosecute the case against her alleged killers, because she was believed to have been murdered on
Oneida Indian Nation property.
Anyone with information regarding the case is asked to call the Madison County, New York Sheriff’s Department at 315-366-2289 of the Oneida, New York, Police Department at 315-363-9111 or call the FBI’s Albany, New York, field office at 315-731-1781.
The FBI Is Involved
Tammy had completed one year of college at State University of New York in Morrisville, fifteen miles south of Oneida. She had majored in husbandry, the cultivation and breeding of crops and animals, with the hopes of becoming a veterinarian. After completing her first year, however, she unexpectedly dropped out and instead began working as a groom at Vernon Downs, a horse ranch.
Following her disappearance, it was learned that Tammy had quit her job the previous week. She had not told anyone, including Karl, and left their apartment each morning under the pretense of still going to work.
It was also subsequently found that Tammy had applied for a position in the newsroom of the Oneida Daily Dispatch.
Subsequent Findings
SOURCES:
- Central New York Central
- Charley Project
- Doe Network
- FBI
- Oneida Daily Dispatch
- New York Times
- The Post Standard (Syracuse, New York)
It’s so sad when these children go missing. There are so many of them. She could have been me when I was that age. I would leave home for days/weeks and hitchhike around Chicago but always in a small group. Her parents are past crazy by now. No closure for them ever. 🙏