Name: Rebecca Ann Triska
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: September 19, 1958
Location Last Seen: Ambridge, Beaver County, Pennsylvania
Date of Birth: circa 1943
Age: 15 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 5'1"
Weight: 110 lbs.
Hair Color: Red/Auburn
Eye Color: Blue
Nickname/Alias: Becky
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Freckles
Dentals: Not Available
Fingerprints: Not Available
DNA: Available
Clothing: Green cashmere sweater; black velvet slacks
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Black suede tie shoes
Circumstances of Disappearance Triska was last seen around 23:45 in a car with an unidentified older male at the Route 88 Drive-In Restaurant in Harmony Township, just north of Ambridge, Pennsylvania on September 19, 1958. She never made it home.
She had gone to a teen dance in Ambridge with friends. Becky left the dance at about 23:30. Two boys who happened to leave the dance around the same time spoke to Becky in front of the theater. She was alone, but an older man, they estimated around 35, was standing in the area and offered to give Becky a ride home. The boys commented that the man was too old to give Becky a ride and, they said, he walked away.
Police arrested an Ambridge man when they learned that the car Becky was last seen in closely resembled his car. At the time, he was a parolee on a Florida morals charge. He denied knowing Becky, but refused to take a lie detector test. He was held on suspicion of a felony, while his car was sent to the Allegheny County Crime Lab. Investigators found some blood stains and strands of red hair in the car. An attempt was made to match the hair samples from the car against hair taken from Becky's hairbrush, but without the tools available today, it was never definitively proved that the hairs were Becky's. He stated that he had three nieces with red hair and the blood was his. Additionally, he had an alibi. Police learned the identity of the girl that he had a date with on the night Becky disappeared. The girl told police that they had attended a football game in Alliquippa and had parted company between 23:30 and 23:45 that night. With no body and not enough evidence, he was released. He was never charged for Becky's murder.
In 1962, this same man was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1961 beating death of 13-year old Jane Benfield of Centralia, Columbia County. His death sentence was later commuted to life. He died in prison of cancer in the '90s.
Rebecca Ann Triska was declared dead in 1967. Her date of death was recorded as September 19, 1965, seven years after she was last seen. Her body has never been found.
Agency Name: Beaver County Detective Bureau
Agency Contact Person: Detective Andrew Gall
Agency Phone Number: (724) 773-8574
Agency E-Mail: agall@beavercountypa.gov
Agency Case Number: 2011001061
Agency Name: Beaver County Detective Bureau
Agency Contact Person: Detective Timothy Staub
Agency Phone Number: 724-773-8850
Agency E-Mail: tstaub@beavercountypa.gov
Agency Case Number: 58-0919/1-D-3-281
NamUs Case Number: 4608
NCIC Case Number: 1148853
NamUs
PA Missing Persons
NAMPN
Added: 8/14/09; Last Updated: 05-18-2022 - By: Htmlcnvtr
Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team
** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.
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