Joyce Helen Malecki, also known as Joyce Malecki, was a 20-year-old American office worker from Baltimore who was employed at a liquor distributor. She disappeared on November 11, 1969. Her body was discovered on November 13, 1969 at the Soldier Park training area of Fort Meade, two days after her disappearance. Her murder remains unsolved and received coverage in the Netflix documentary web series The Keepers, released in May 2017, which alleged a possible connection to the murder of Catherine Cesnik.
Biography
Joyce Helen Malecki was born on June 12, 1949 in Baltimore County, Maryland to Casimir Malecki, Sr and Doris Marion Johnson. She had three brothers, Donald Joseph Malecki, Darryl Malecki, Pat Malecki. Malecki was living in Lansdowne, on the 200 block of Laverne Avenue, and worked at a liquor distributor.
Disappearance and death
On November 11, 1969, Malecki went Christmas shopping at Harundale Mall in Glen Burnie. She was wearing a brown turtleneck sweater and plaid slacks, and was scheduled to meet a boyfriend stationed at Fort Meade for a date, but never appeared. Her disappearance occurred four days after the disappearance of Cathy Cesnik. Two days later, Malecki's body was discovered partially in the water and partially on the bank of the Little Patuxent River at Fort Meade's Soldier Park training area, by two hunters constructing a deer blind. She was found with her hands tied behind her back, and with scratches and bruises on her body, indicating she had struggled with her assailant. An autopsy performed by Dr. Isidore Mihalakis indicated the cause of death was either by choking or drowning. A single deep knife wound found in Malecki's throat was insufficient to cause death. She had approximately "15 superficial cuts on the neck and abrasions on her forehead, nose and chin". Malecki's body was found on federal property, and the case was therefore under FBI jurisdiction. At the time, FBI agents believed there was a possible link with the disappearance of Catherine Cesnik: both women had been shopping in close proximity, had similar builds, and disappeared within days of each other. However, the FBI was unable to link the two cases. Edwin R. Tully, special FBI agent in charge of the Baltimore office, claimed to have a number of suspects. The FBI remains the lead agency for this case, and despite information circulating online, the investigation has not been handed over to the Anne Arundel County Police Department.
Renewed interest
In 1994, Jean Hargadon Wehner and Teresa Lancaster, two alleged victims who suffered sexual abuse in Archbishop Keough High School at the hands of Father Joseph Maskell, came forward filing charges against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore. Wehner claimed to the Baltimore police that Maskell had shown her Cesnik's body. Consequently, Baltimore County police reopened Cesnik's case and reviewed a possible connection with Malecki's. The police received numerous telephone calls providing information regarding Cesnik's murder after local news reports about the allegations against Maskell renewed public interest. It was discovered that Malecki had spent time around Maskell. A second wave of interest was sparked after the release of The Keepers on Netflix, in May 2017. Since Cesnik and Malecki's murders, two additional murders have occurred in the area. On October 16, 1970, 16-year-old Pamela Lynn Conyers also disappeared from Harundale Mall. Conyers's body was discovered on October 20, 1970 in Anne Arundel County, between the eastbound and westbound lanes of Maryland Route 177. On September 27, 1971, 16-year-old Grace Elizabeth "Gay" Montanye of Franklin High School disappeared from Reisterstown shopping center. Her body was found two days later by Mount Auburn Cemetery in South Baltimore. Maskell's body was exhumed on February 28, 2017, for DNA testing involving the murder of Cathy Cesnik. Maskell DNA tests did not match the DNA profile from 1970.
