Suffolk investigators crack 42-year-old homicide case

Eve Wilkowitz was 20 years old when she was abducted, raped and strangled while returning to her Bay Shore apartment from her job in the city.

News 12 Staff

Mar 30, 2022, 9:27 AM

Updated 996 days ago

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News 12 has learned detectives have solved a 42-year-old homicide.
Eve Wilkowitz was 20 years old when she was abducted, raped and strangled while returning to her Bay Shore apartment from her job in the city.
She would walk from the train to her apartment on Fifth Avenue. Her body was discovered close by on Centre Avenue, which would have been on her walk home.
Suffolk investigators now say that with the advances in forensic technologies they believe they know who the killer is.
After she was raped and murdered, DNA was taken. No match was found at the time.
A relative was located in 2019 thanks to new DNA technology used for the first time in Suffolk County. After further investigation, Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney says Herbert Rice was a match.
Tierney says Rice was staying four houses away from where Wilkowitz's body was found.
Rice died from cancer 11 years after the murder. His family cooperated with the investigation, and his body was extracted from the grave and the DNA was matched to what was found on Wilkowitz.
The victim's sister has been working to find her killer and says she has lived in fear since then.
"This is my first time seeing him. I didn't Google him, I didn't want to see the last face Eve saw when she was still alive," says Irene Wilkowitz. "But now I am seeing him, and it is very upsetting for me."
Irene Wilkowitz is thanking investigators for not giving up on the case.
"I'm glad this was solved, even though it was 42 years," Irene Wilkowitz says. "But nothing will bring her back though."