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1998 Lyall,Suzanne 3-2-1998; University of New York, Albany
Topic Started: Jul 14 2006, 12:01 PM (2,009 Views)
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http://www.troyrecord.com/site/news.cfm?ne...t_id=7021&rfi=6

Parents of missing student to speak

By: Kathryn Caggianelli, The Record
03/30/2006

She disappeared March 2, 1998, around 9:30 p.m. after getting off a CDTA bus on the uptown campus of the state University of New York in Albany. Lyall was 20 years old at the time.
Since that time, her parents have struggled to resolve what happened to their daughter. The uncertainty is in some ways worse than knowing the unthinkable.
"You get frozen in time. It's hard to move forward. You're not able to go through the normal grieving process," Doug said.
For the Lyalls, carrying on has meant taking an active role in educating others about the plight of families of missing children.
They called upon lawmakers to pass the New York State Campus Safety Act in 2000, a measure that requires campus security and all law enforcement agencies to share information about missing persons and serious crimes in an efficient, expedient manner. It mirrors similar legislation in California.
They helped create a guide for families of missing college students with the help of the state Department of Criminal Justice Services, area colleges and the State Police.
"The manual is now at every college in New York state. It tells what to do at any given time if someone goes missing," Doug said.
And they're cofounders of the Center for Hope, a non-profit organization in Ballston Spa that helps families of missing children.
"We offer support, guidance, education, referrals and links to other services," he said.
Through their darkest hours, the Lyalls have drawn strength from others who share their tragedy. Helping families move through the difficult process has been therapeutic, Doug said.
"We're still working on it, still trying to find our way back and regain our lives in the process. It never really has an end," he said.
Families and friends of abducted children and other missing persons from across the U.S. will gather Saturday and Sunday for the State Museum's Family Safety Weekend. The Lyalls will be guest speakers Sunday. Keynote speakers at 2 p.m. Sunday will be John and Magi Bush, whose teenage daughter Molly was abducted and found dead three years later.
A ceremony will precede the keynote speech at 1 p.m. Sunday in the museum theater. Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco will act as master of ceremonies. State Trooper Dan Hart will play the bagpipes and Brittany Kissinger of Ballston Spa, who formerly starred as Annie on Broadway, will sing the National Anthem. The Lyalls will present the Hope Award to Chauncey Parker, commissioner of the state DCJS. A musical tribute to Suzanne Lyall will follow. There will be a ceremony to honor missing loved ones of those who attend. Other discussions are planned.
A new kiosk that will make it possible for visitors to access information about missing persons will be unveiled Saturday.
Representatives from the State Police, DCJS and other agencies will be on hand both days to answer questions and hand out literature. Crafts and educational activities for children will be provided both days. Music will be performed by Brittany and Zac Kissinger of "Tentacles Heavenward," Michael Yates, Soul Session featuring Garland Nelson, bluegrass group Happy Balky and the Good Livin.' The museum is open from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

ŠThe Record 2006
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http://www.saratogian.com/site/news.cfm?ne..._id=17708&rfi=6

Family marks Missing Person Day
JIM KINNEY, The Saratogian
04/02/2006

MILTON -- Doug Lyall remembers going to University at Albany police within a day of not hearing from his daughter, Suzanne.


The police there kept telling him that 23 UAlbany students had been reported missing already that year, and they all returned after a few days with some story of a road trip or staying in a friend's room.

'They kept saying she'd come back,' Lyall said. 'But we knew she wasn't the type. She didn't fall asleep in the library.'

Suzanne hasn't come back. Now eight years later, Doug and Mary Lyall have dedicated themselves to helping the families of other missing people, passing laws ensuring that incidents of missing college students are investigated seriously. They even distribute handbooks for college police officers who deal with missing person's cases.

The investigation into Suzanne's disappearance has been sparse, though. Her father said she was last seen getting off a bus at Collins Circle on the University at Albany's uptown Campus. She'd just left her job at a computer store at Crossgates Mall. Another woman getting on the bus recognized Suzanne from their dorm, Doug said.

'We've talked to her over the years. I don't know if she knew Suzy's name,' he said.

Since then, state police have released photos of Suzanne Lyall's jewelry and, in 2005, a computer aged photo.

Police still interview people. Doug Lyall said Suzanne's boyfriend and his family no longer cooperate with investigators, though.

'I don't know why,' he said. 'All the questions are to find out if anyone remembers anything.'

The Lyalls also work with many people who find themselves members of the same, awful club of people with missing loved ones.

Missing Persons ceremony today

This is a busy time for the Lyalls. They mark Missing Person Day at 1 p.m. today in the auditorium at the State Museum in Albany. They will break ground for 'Remembrance,' a monument to the estimated 4,000 people listed as missing in New York state. When it opens in the fall, it'll be the first of its kind in the nation.

'We've been to one in Ireland,' Doug Lyall said.

Mary Lyall said she's invited hundreds of people with missing family members to today's ceremony, which coincides with Suzanne's birthday. It has become an annual event over the past several years. Politicians and a bagpiper will attend, too.

At one point, family members will step forward and take a yellow rose representing their missing loved one. Relatives who have learned, generally because remains have been found, that their missing loved ones are dead take a single red rose.

'It's very emotional,' Mary Lyall said. 'Some people can't participate. Some people come one time and can't come back.'

She said she invited the family of Christina N. White.

'I don't know if she'll be able to come,' Lyall said.

White disappeared from Milton last July at the age of 19. Her skeleton was found March 10 in Daketown State Forest. She'd been stabbed. The Saratoga County Sheriff's Office is investigating the case as a homicide.

'Closure is a bad word,' Mary Lyall said. 'You never get closure; you get answers. When you talk to someone where they have found a loved one's remains, they'll tell you, 'Well, I have one answer.' '

The pain people in this situation go through is palpable in postings to the Web site at the Lyalls' Center for HOPE.

One reads:

'Missing son, 21 yrs. 6-2 135 lbs... last spoke dec. 05. Please call r u ok? need help? Where are u. u need to know we love you. god bless. any help?'

Ballston Spa Mayor John Romano says it amazes him how Doug and Mary Lyall can work with people going through this pain when they have suffered such a loss themselves.

'When you talk to them, they are just calm, kind, gentle people,' Romano said. 'You don't sense any anger.'

Doug Lyall said some people in his situation do feel a lot of anger, sometimes directed at police for not doing enough. Other people direct that anger inward.

Mary Lyall said, 'This situation breaks up marriages. It ruins families. Sometimes it brings out medical problems. I think it's the stress.'

It's one reason the Lyalls have put out a pamphlet of advice, 'What do I do if my loved one is missing.'

It tells people, yes, they can have a missing persons report filed and to insist that police file a report. Because of Suzanne's Law, a federal statute passed in 2003 and named for Suzanne Lyall, every police agency is required to enter a missing person under the age of 21 into the National Crime Investigation Center.

That way, if a missing college student gets pulled over or shows up at a hospital or morgue without identification, police will know.

Lyall said it took three days for UAlbany Campus police to bring in state police investigators.

'They just weren't set up to deal with it,' he said.

He also said it took too long for the University to put up missing posters around campus. He blames it on being March, a time when families tour with prospective freshmen.

'It's not the best PR,' he said. 'It's a business and I understand that.'

The Lyalls have worked with the state to develop a handbook for police officer. The phonebook-sized document covers everything from how to use dogs and helicopters to how best to set up missing posters.

Lyall said he's shown it to police around the country.

'Everybody who sees it wants a copy,' he said. 'We're hoping that they take a look at it and use it.'

Saratoga County District Attorney James A. Murphy III said changing the way police deal with cases of missing college students is probably the Lyalls' greatest accomplishment.

'We hope that they will be able to continue working with all of us in law enforcement,' Murphy said.

The Center for HOPE is at 20 Prospect St., Ballston Spa. The phone number is 884-8761.

ŠThe Saratogian 2006
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Missing Person's Day
April 3, 2006, 07:59 AM EST Email to a Friend Printer Friendly Version



The four-thousand missing people in New York State were remembered Sunday during a ceremony at the New York State Museum.

Family and friends gathered in the honor seeking support from the Center of Hope, which stands for Healing Our Painful Emotions. Doug and Mary Lyall started the Center for Hope after their daughter disappeared on March 2, 1998.

The Lyall's are currently working on a permanent rememberance memorial, which will be located at the corner of South Swan and Madison at the highest spot in the Empire State Plaza Complex. It will stand twenty feet in the air and have a perpetual flame. It will be dedicated this Thursday, marking Suzanne Lyall's 28th birthday.

http://www.wten.com/Global/story.asp?S=4716186


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a brief mention

http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricte...DA80994DD404482

METROPOLITAN DESK


In an Old Family, a Suspect in Crimes Old and New


By WILLIAM YARDLEY AND MICHELLE YORK (NYT) 1448 words
Published: November 28, 2005

WATERBURY, Conn. - John F. Regan had been out on bail for a year when a concerned photo clerk at the Walgreens on West Main Street called the police earlier this fall.
''He says, 'I'm getting all these pictures developed by this guy John Regan and they're of all these women,' '' said Sgt. Chris Corbett of the Waterbury police. ''He thought it was odd, because the pictures didn't add up. They were like surveillance photos. These are pictures of women getting out of their cars in a parking lot, going into a store, going into a bank.''

The clerk had another reason to be suspicious: He knew Mr. Regan's name and face.


Mr. Regan, 49, a married father of three from a prominent family with deep roots in this city, has been a focus of local news coverage since he was charged last year in two cases that involved allegations of sexual assault. He is awaiting trial in those cases; he faces kidnapping charges in one and unlawful restraint charges in the other.

Within six weeks of the photo clerk's call, the Waterbury police used the photographs to charge Mr. Regan with a new crime, stalking. But before they did, the police in New York say, Mr. Regan had already committed another crime, the attempted kidnapping of a 17-year-old track star at Saratoga Springs High School after practice on Halloween.

The girl's coaches chased Mr. Regan, who was in his van, moments after she fought him off, the police said. Inside the van, the police said, they found a rope, a blue tarp, liquor and other items that investigators regarded as suspicious.

In the weeks since, local and F.B.I. investigators in Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts have been examining whether Mr. Regan might have links to several unsolved sex crimes and murders reaching back nearly two decades. Parents of long-missing young women have expressed cautious hope that a suspect might finally be in custody.

But so far, for all the attention and suspicion, no evidence has surfaced, some investigators say.

Mr. Regan is now in custody at the Central New York Psychiatric Center near Utica after he attempted suicide this month while in jail in Saratoga Springs. While the Waterbury police portray him as a dangerous man, he has steadfastly maintained his innocence through his lawyers.

To represent him in one of the Connecticut cases, Mr. Regan's family hired Hope Seeley, a Hartford lawyer who defended Michael Skakel, a nephew of Ethel Kennedy, against murder charges, and Alex Kelly, a convicted rapist from Greenwich who fled to Europe when he was first charged as a teenager.

Mr. Regan, a former salesman and branch manager for a roofing and siding company, ABC Supply, and his wife, Ruth, who teaches at a Catholic school, own a charming two-story, colonial-style house on Euclid Avenue in the historic neighborhood of Overlook, a few blocks from where he grew up and where his parents still live.

An elementary school in Waterbury is named for Mr. Regan's grandfather Frank G. Regan, a high school principal for nearly half a century. Mr. Regan's father, Dr. Frank G. Regan Jr., a retired dentist known as Scoop for his reputation as a young man for knowing the talk of the town, refused to comment for this article.

Mr. Regan's brother, Patrick M. Regan, is a prominent lawyer in Washington. He has helped hire lawyers to represent his brother in Connecticut and New York. He did not respond to two requests for comment left with an employee in his Washington office.

If family and neighbors were stunned by the allegations against Mr. Regan in Waterbury last year, scrutiny only increased after his arrest in Saratoga Springs. On a recent cover of a local tabloid, The Waterbury Observer, a large photograph of his face was displayed beneath the headline, ''Busted!''

Louise Boulanger, who has lived across the street from Dr. Regan and his wife, Gioia, for half a century and whose children grew up with Mr. Regan, described Mr. Regan's parents as ''devastated, they're absolutely devastated.''

''She's been to church every day of her life,'' Ms. Boulanger said. ''She's a very religious woman, and she definitely didn't deserve this.''

Before the arrest in Saratoga Springs, when Mr. Regan faced charges only in Connecticut, Ms. Boulanger met his mother on the sidewalk one day. ''She said, 'He's innocent, you know.' She looked me right in the eye,'' Ms. Boulanger recalled. ''If it was my son, I would have said the same thing.''

Mr. Regan was first arrested in the summer of 2004 on an unlawful restraint charge. He is accused of trying to force a co-worker in her early 20's to have sex with him on a back porch at his parents' house while they were away.

DNA evidence gathered in that arrest led the Waterbury police to charge Mr. Regan with a second crime, an unsolved case from 1993 in which a businesswoman said she was raped in her home. The police initially were skeptical of her allegation, but the case remained open. In 2001, the woman won a civil suit claiming the police mishandled the investigation. Last year, Mr. Regan was charged with kidnapping in the case because the statute of limitations for rape had expired.

Mr. Regan was fired from his job at ABC Supply after his arrests last year. This fall, he was in Saratoga Springs working on property belonging to his mother's family when he was arrested on Halloween.

Lt. Gary Forward of the Saratoga Springs police said Mr. Regan was arrested on charges that he tried to abduct a student after track practice, about 5:30 p.m.

''She came back to her car after track practice,'' Lieutenant Forward said. ''There was a blue-gray van parked next to her. She was putting some things in the back seat, and she heard the van's sliding door open. The man grabbed her around the torso and mouth and tried to drag her into the van. She was able to get her mouth free, and she started screaming for help.''

One of the track coaches ''confronted the guy,'' Lieutenant Forward said. ''He got back into the van, closed the door and drove away.'' Another coach began chasing Mr. Regan, calling the police on his cellphone at the same time and helping them pinpoint the location. Mr. Regan drove a few blocks, and stopped just as the police arrived.

The publicized details of the arrest in Saratoga Springs, coupled with the charges Mr. Regan already faced in Connecticut, prompted a broader investigation of his life.

The Waterbury police say they are also investigating whether Mr. Regan was involved in two murders, in the late 1980's, of prostitutes who worked not far from where Mr. Regan lived.

In New York, the parents of Suzanne Lyall, a student at the State University of New York at Albany when she disappeared from a shopping mall in 1998, have asked the state police to revisit her case. In Massachusetts, where Mr. Regan sometimes traveled when he was a salesman for ABC Supply, the parents of Molly Bish, who was 16 when she disappeared in 2000 from Warren, near Worcester, said elements of the Saratoga Springs case paralleled their daughter's disappearance.

But John J. Conte, the district attorney in Worcester, who is investigating the Bish case, said last week that his office had confirmed that Mr. Regan was not in the area the day Molly disappeared, June 27, 2000.

''Everybody's talking similarities and they're not talking facts,'' Mr. Conte had said in an earlier interview. ''They're all maybes: maybe it lines up, maybe it's similar.''

Cynthia S. Serafini, a senior assistant state's attorney for the Waterbury judicial district, who is prosecuting Connecticut's two cases against Mr. Regan, said, ''I'm not aware of any evidence that links him to any other crimes.''

While speculation has swirled that Mr. Regan could be involved in additional crimes, currently he has been charged with kidnapping, unlawful restraint and stalking.

''The terrible danger in the way this has been publicized is that you have people coming forward and making false accusations,'' said E. Stewart Jones, Mr. Regan's lawyer in the Saratoga Springs case.




Photo: John F. Regan, charged with trying to kidnap a 17-year-old girl, was escorted to court on Nov. 1 by John Catone, left, and Tim Sicko of the Saratoga Springs police. (Photo by Rick Gargiulo/The Saratogian, via Associated Press)
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http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricte...DAA0894D8404482

METROPOLITAN DESK


After Loss of Daughter, Calls for Campus Safety


By WINNIE HU (NYT) 1058 words
Published: March 26, 2000

BALLSTON SPA, N.Y., March 25 - Two years after Suzanne Lyall disappeared, her words seep through the gloom that has settled over the house where she grew up. Her mother, Mary, reads so intently from a worn notebook of her daughter's poetry that she does not notice when a loose page slips to the floor.
The poem, called ''Lost Memories,'' describes how a dead woman's photos are callously discarded.

And now it's really sad to say that these memories which meant so much to her, are being thrown away, to be seen again never, along with her soul, which is now being lowered into her burial hole.

''I always liked it,'' Mrs. Lyall said. ''It traces someone's life and hopes and dreams, all wrapped up in these photos, and then everything's gone.''


After an awkward pause, Douglas Lyall adds forcefully that their daughter's life will not be so easily forgotten. ''She's very much with us,'' he said. ''That poem doesn't apply to us at all because she's constantly in our minds and in our memories.''

The Lyalls have desperately searched for Suzanne since she disappeared at the age of 19 on March 2, 1998, while returning at night to her dormitory room at the State University of New York at Albany. As time passed and promising leads faded, police officials began investigating the case as a homicide. And the Lyalls turned their efforts to protecting other students, becoming the state's leading crusaders for campus safety laws.

''We're not political people, we're just folks up the road in Ballston Spa,'' said Mr. Lyall, 58, a retired vocational counselor in this middle-class suburb about 30 miles north of Albany. ''But if you wait for the politicians to propose legislation on their own, sometimes it won't happen. People can identify with us -- Suzi could be anybody's daughter, anybody's sister -- that's what it comes down to.''

The Lyalls were the driving force last year behind the passage of a law that requires all colleges and universities in New York to adopt security plans that ensure prompt investigation of violent crimes and missing students.

This year, they have collected more than 25,000 signatures in support of another school-safety measure, named for Suzanne and modeled after legislation for drug-free school zones. It would increase penalties for violent crimes committed within 1,000 feet of colleges and universities, schools and day care centers.

The proposal was endorsed by Gov. George E. Pataki and sailed through the Republican-led Senate after being sponsored by Joseph L. Bruno, the majority leader, who represents the Lyalls' hometown. It has stalled for now in the Democratic-led Assembly. Several Assembly Democrats and advocacy groups have opposed the proposal with the argument that it would not deter hardened criminals but would suggest that crimes committed at schools are somehow worse than those committed elsewhere.

But many lawmakers remain hopeful that the Lyalls will bring enough pressure on Assembly leaders to force action on the proposal -- in much the same way that Jenna's Law, named for a nursing student killed by a parolee in Albany, finally passed in 1998. That law sharply restricted parole for first-time violent felons.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has already signaled that he will not again underestimate public sentiment, especially in an election year. ''The dedication of the Lyall family to their cause reminds us there is more that must be done,'' Mr. Silver said on the second anniversary of Suzanne Lyall's disappearance. ''The Assembly is now developing a comprehensive college security proposal that will be acted on this year,'' he said, without detailing what that plan will be.

Suzanne Lyall, a quiet woman who often expressed herself through poetry, grew up the youngest of three children in a close-knit family. Mrs. Lyall, 57, a homemaker, still laughs when she describes how her daughter once jumped out of the shower, her hair foamy with shampoo, to jot down a verse on a scrap of paper.

The night she disappeared, she had just finished her part-time job in a computer store at the Crossgates Mall in Albany. There were no signs that she reached her dorm room, her parents said.

Even as their hopes dimmed, the Lyalls sought to salvage something positive from their ordeal. They heard about another student, Kristin Smart, who disappeared from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo in 1996. Her parents helped pass a state law that requires campus police to sign written agreements with local law enforcement agencies to avoid delays in the investigation of a violent crime.

The Lyalls wanted to push for a similar campus safety law in New York. Although the SUNY police responded quickly to their calls, Mr. Lyall said, they did not immediately bring in the state police. New York's campus safety law, which was based on the one in California, was signed by Governor Pataki in April.

In recent months, the Lyalls have been circulating petitions by the thousands to pressure Assembly leaders into passing Suzanne's Law. Even their opponents concede that they have made inroads.

''Politicians are quick to jump on these things,'' said Alice P. Green, executive director of the Center for Law and Justice, a nonprofit education group in Albany. ''You can gather a lot of sympathy for the family -- and make no mistake, I feel for them -- but I also work with many families where a child is killed and no one does anything.''

At the Lyalls' ranch house, petitions advocating Suzanne's Law overflow from neatly stacked cardboard boxes. The Lyalls said they would not allow themselves to give up hope that their daughter is still alive, but they sometimes lapse into the past tense when describing her to strangers.

As Mrs. Lyall brings out sodas and homemade chocolate-chip cookies, she points to four jars of orange marmalade stacked on the counter. She made them a few days before her daughter disappeared. ''We stopped living two years ago, and the jars have been sitting there ever since,'' she said. ''There's something about moving them that bothers me.''




Photo: Douglas and Mary Lyall, in the bedroom of their daughter, Suzanne, who was attending SUNY Albany when she disappeared March 2, 1998. (David Jennings for The New York Times)


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Posted Image

Age at Disappearance: 19 yrs
Date of Birth: 4/6/1978
Date of Last Contact: 3/2/1998
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 5'03"
Weight: 175 lbs
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Brown
Missing From: Albany, NY
Notes: Last seen exiting CDTA bus at SUNY Albany uptown campus wearing long black trench coat, blue jeans & black shirt. May have been carrying a black totebag. Has a mole on left cheek & each arm, pierced ears, scar left foot & wears contact lenses.
Investigating Police Agency: New York State Police Loudonville

http://criminaljustice.state.ny.us/missing/info/6909.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you believe that you have seen this person contact NYS MECC at 1-800-346-3543.
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http://www.global2000.net/suzy/info.html

Information regarding Suzanne's Disappearance





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MISSING: Suzanne Gloria Lyall
DOB: 4/6/78
AGE: 20
HEIGHT: 5'3"
WEIGHT: 175
HAIR: Light Blonde
EYES: Blue
APPEARANCE: Was last seen wearing blue jeans
black T-shirt, long black denin coat. Long, past the shoulder, hair.
LAST SEEN:March 2nd, 1998
Crossgates Mall Albany

Suzanne Lyall was last seen Monday, March 2, 1998 at 9:45PM exiting a CDTA bus at Collins Circle, on the University at Albany Uptown Campus. Ms. Lyall is 5 feet 3 inches tall, weighs approximately 175 pounds, and has long blond hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing a long black trench coat, blue jeans, and a black shirt. She may be carrying a black bookbag or totebag. Ms. Lyall is a sophomore at the University at Albany.
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MISSING: Suzanne Gloria Lyall
DOB: 4/6/78
AGE: 20
HEIGHT: 5'3"
WEIGHT: 175
HAIR: Light Blonde
EYES: Blue
APPEARANCE: Was last seen wearing blue jeans
black T-shirt, long black denin coat. Long, past the shoulder, hair.
LAST SEEN:March 2nd, 1998
Crossgates Mall Albany

Suzanne Lyall was last seen Monday, March 2, 1998 at 9:45PM exiting a CDTA bus at Collins Circle, on the University at Albany Uptown Campus. Ms. Lyall is 5 feet 3 inches tall, weighs approximately 175 pounds, and has long blond hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing a long black trench coat, blue jeans, and a black shirt. She may be carrying a black bookbag or totebag. Ms. Lyall is a sophomore at the University at Albany.

http://www.global2000.net/suzy/info.html
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Missing, but always in mind
Doug and Mary Lyall use their experience to help others cope with disappearances

By CAROL DeMARE, Staff writer
Click byline for more stories by writer.
First published: Monday, April 2, 2007

BALLSTON SPA -- On Sunday, Doug and Mary Lyall comforted others who grieve for lost loved ones while remembering their own daughter, Suzy.
It was Missing Persons Day in New York state. But for the Lyalls, every day is missing persons day.


It's been nine years since their youngest child, Suzanne Gloria Lyall -- forever in their memory a 19-year-old college student -- disappeared.

As they prepared for the weekend event, the Lyalls reflected on how they cope.

They find comfort at their non-profit Center for Hope, started in 2000 in the family room of their Ballston Spa home before moving to a converted chocolate factory building in the village.

It's a retreat where they keep their mission alive -- supporting families and friends dealing with "the ambiguous disappearance of a loved one."

On display are photos of missing people and other memorabilia used to keep Suzy and others in the public eye, such as a 2002 cookbook titled: "Life's Recipes for Hope; Remembering Our Missing Loved Ones." The walls are lined with awards and plaques recognizing the couple's work.

This time of year is hard on them. March 1 is Mary Lyall's birthday -- she turned 64 -- and she last talked to Suzy on March 1, 1998, when her daughter called to wish her happy birthday.

The next night, the sophomore computer sciences major is believed to have stepped off a CDTA bus at Collins Circle on the uptown campus at 9:45 p.m. after working at a computer store at Crossgates Mall -- when she vanished.

April 6 is Suzy's birthday -- she would be 29 -- and Gov. George Pataki designated it Missing Persons Day in 2001. It's often commemorated on the preceding weekend.

"I'm still in the nightmare," Mary Lyall said. "I can't believe nine years have gone by." Her husband calls it a "post traumatic haze."

But they stay busy. "It's better than sitting home, feeling sorry for yourself," she said. Their son, Steven, 40, lives in New York City, and their daughter Sandy, 37, lives in East Longmeadow, Mass.

Others benefit from the couple's energy, knowledge and compassion. "You cope by helping others," Mary Lyall said.

They were instrumental in the erection last year of the Missing Persons Remembrance -- a stainless steel sculpture at Empire State Plaza with an eternal flame "to light their way home."

More than 4,000 people are missing statewide. The Lyalls dream of having the time and resources to help those families.

Tammy McCormick of Saratoga Springs hasn't been heard from in 18 years, taking off when she was about 15. Her family doesn't want to talk about it, Mary Lyall said.

"Families, we find, stop," she said. "They don't want to search any more. They've given up. They're worn out."

In adult missing-person cases, police usually tell a relative to come back in 48 or 72 hours, Doug Lyall said. Many don't return.

"They should treat every missing person as though it were foul play," said the 65-year-old retired mental health counselor.

In Suzy's disappearance, campus police "didn't take it as seriously" as they would have liked, he said.

"As parents, we felt something was wrong," he said. "It was so clear to us that something awful had happened."


1 | 2 NEXT PAGE >>

Missing, but always in mind

First published: Monday, April 2, 2007


(Page 2 of 2)

They encourage families to insist on getting the "right person" in a police agency who will help them. In their case, it was not until State Police stepped in that the probe revved up.
The Lyalls remain close to Jim Horton, then a senior investigator who headed Troop G Major Crimes Unit. Mary Lyall's eyes filled up. "He wanted to solve it."

Senior Investigator David Madden now heads the unit, and Doug Lyall said they have a partnership.

"We still get stuff, and we're still re-working things as with any cold case," Madden said. "We periodically re-interview people and re-confirm certain things."

Often on a second round of interviews, an investigator can "take it a little farther, and with this unit and its turnover, we're always looking for a fresh set of eyes," he said

"Quality investigators with experience in different areas and fields that fit well in what we're doing," comprise the unit, he said. "Because of that background and ability, it gives them an opportunity to showcase their talents."

On the first anniversary of Suzy's disappearance, Horton said it was being treated as a homicide.

"No way could this much time have gone by and she's still out there and safe," her father said.

Yet, a week ago, a tip came in that Suzy was possibly seen in the Capital Region.

Mary Lyall prepared for the Missing Persons Day event with a story of a woman who planted daffodils on five acres next to her home, one bulb every day for 30 years "to make a difference, one day at a time" until there was a huge field of beautiful daffodils.

Carol DeMare can be reached at 454-5431 or by e-mail at cdemare@timesunion.com.
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story...2007&TextPage=2

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Basic Information
Race: White
Sex: Female
DOB: April 6, 1978
Height: 5'3"
Weight: 175 pounds
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Light Brown
Other: Brown birthmark on left calf. Mole on left cheek beneath ear lobe. Surgical scar on left foot.

Additional Information
Last Seen: Date: March 2, 1998
Time: About 9:20 p.m.
Location: Babbages Software, Crossgates Mall, Guilderland, NY.
Miscellaneous: Lyall left Babbages Software, her place of employment, and boarded a Capital District Transportation Authority bus. She got off the bus about 9:40 p.m. at Collins Circle, State University of New York, Albany, NY.
Lyall was wearing a long black trench coat, black shirt and blue jeans. She was carrying a black book/tote bag.
A sophomore, Lyall is talented in the operation of personal computers. She enjoys online services and the musical group "RUSH."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Man sought as a possible witness
At about 4 p.m. on March 3, 1998, Lyall's ATM card was used at the Stewart's Store located on the corner of Manning Boulevard and Central Avenue, Albany, NY.
At about this same time the individual appearing in the composite picture, left, made a purchase at the counter inside the store.
He is a black male, with a medium/muscular build approximately 30 years old, 6-foot tall,wearing a mid-length "Carhart" type jacket and a dark baseball cap with the "Nike" swoosh symbol on the front. .

http://www.troopers.state.ny.us/Wanted_and...02-52825c71e4f0
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It is believed that Lyall was wearing the jewelry shown when she disappeared. A polished, 14K, fluted bow ring; a silver ring in the shape of a frog and a necklace with a silver medallion inscribed with a runic character that looks like a block-style letter S. She may also have been wearing a 14K gold flower design cocktail ring.
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http://blogs.timesunion.com/localpolitics/?p=642

Lyall’s birthday proposed as missing persons day

September 27, 2007 at 5:18 pm by Tim O'Brien, Staff writer

U.S. Senator Charles Schumer and U.S. Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand are trying to get President Bush to declare Suzanne Lyall’s birthday ”National Missing Persons Day.”

Lyall, a University at Albany sophomore from Milton, was last seen on March 2, 1998 after leaving work at Crossgates Mall.

“It’s absolutely essential that we shine light on the hundreds of New Yorkers who go missing every year,” Schumer said in a release announcing their proposal. “Here in the Capital Region, the memory of Suzanne Lyall is a tragic reminder that we must do everything humanly possible to extend help and hope to those in need. ’National Missing Persons Day’ will not only memorialize Suzanne Lyall, but will also raise the nation’s awareness of the plight of missing peoples and foster an environment where more missing people may be located.”

And Gillibrand is quoted in the same release saying: ”It is my hope that the President will issue a Proclamation establishing April 6th as ‘National Missing Persons Day.’ This day will allow Americans to appropriately remember the victims, their families, and the efforts of local law enforcement and the community. The United States Congress has unanimously approved of establishing a day to bring awareness to the issue of missing persons, and I will continue to work with Senator Schumer and the Lyall family to help prevent future tragedies from occurring.”

According to their joint release, tens of thousands of people go missing in the United States each year, and on any given day, there are as many as 100,000 active missing person cases in the United States.

President Reagan established May 25 as National Missing Children’s Day in 1983, but a day has not been set aside to remember those Americans who are over the age of 18 and missing from their families.

In 2001, then-governor George Pataki named April 6 Missing Persons Day in New York state.

In 2003, at the request of the Lyall family, Schumer sponsored an amendment to the Amber Alert bill. The amendment created “Suzanne’s Law,” which prohibits law enforcement agencies from imposing a waiting period before accepting reports of missing persons between the ages of 18 and 21.



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http://www.saratogian.com/site/news.cfm?BR...4&PAG=461&rfi=9

Lyalls help focus public on missing persons issues

The Saratogian, The Saratogian11/28/2005

The apparent double life of the Connecticut man accused of trying to abduct a Saratoga Springs teenager has prompted police to take another look at a number of rapes and disappearances in the New England area, raising a mixture of families' hopes and fears.

No family is more attuned to those feelings than the Lyalls, the Milton family whose daughter Suzanne was last seen in 1998, when she was a student at SUNY Albany.

From the heartbreak of a missing child came the Center for HOPE, a nonprofit organization with the mission 'of providing resources to educate, assist and support families and friends to cope with the ambiguous disappearance of a loved one.'

The driving force of the group has been its co-founders, Suzanne's parents Mary and Doug, who in April will realize the goal of dedicating a 'National Remorial for Missing Persons' at the State Museum in Albany.

Fundraising for this 'remorial' includes an event on Dec. 11 in Saratoga Springs -- the second annual 'Afternoon with Santa' from 1 to 5 p.m. at Canfield Casino in Congress Park. Admission is free. There will be crafts, face painting, a bake sale, refreshments and raffles, magician Joseph Didonna, Brisky the Clown and music by Brittany and Zac Kissinger.

Doug and Mary Lyall have dedicated their years of uncertainty to constructively addressing legal, social and personal issues revolving around missing persons and their families.

To begin to appreciate and understand the pervasiveness of missing people and what their loved ones are going through, spend a few minutes on the Center for HOPE's Web site, www.hope4themissing.org.

Support the remorial, and keep the faith.

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http://www.wnyt.com/x5882.xml?ag=x995&sb=x183

Regan's attorney: it's all a misunderstanding

Lawyer says client is innocent; not connected to other cases

SARATOGA SPRINGS, Nov. 14
By MARK MULHOLLAND Saratoga North Country News Chief

Police say they're confident in their case against 49-year-old John Regan, the Waterbury, Conn. accused of trying to abduct a 17-year-old Saratoga Springs High School cross-country star as she left practice.

But Regan's attorney calls it all a big misunderstanding and says he has absolutely no connection to other unsolved cases.

It's been two weeks since police arrested Regan. In that time, police in Saratoga Springs have received calls from police agencies all over the northeast wanting to know more about the man accused of attempted kidnapping. Specifically, they want to know if this is the same man who kidnapped and killed 16-year-old Molly Bish of Warren, Mass., if he played a role in the disappearance of Suzanne Lyall in Albany and other unsolved cases in New York, Massachusetts and his home state of Connecticut where he has an alleged violent history

Regan's attorney, E. Stewart Jones, says the short answer is no. Jones says his client is innocent of the charges in Saratoga Springs and has no connection to other unsolved crimes.

“He tells me there's an explanation for everything that occurred including the evidence that was found in the vehicle. He had stopped there to make some telephone calls on his cell phone. He thinks there was a misunderstanding and an overreaction, which he handled very poorly, quite frankly,” Jones said.

The attorney says Regan has already lost his case in the court of public opinion.

“Right now he's been effectively convicted in the press of a variety of crimes of which he's not yet been charged and which he absolutely no connection,” Jones added.

Prosecutors in Massachusetts say they're asking police to see if there's evidence linking Regan to Bish.

New York State Police say their primary focus right now is assisting the Saratoga Springs Police Department. When that's wrapped up in the coming days they'll take a look at unsolved cases.

Last Updated: November 14, 2005 22:45:00
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http://www.capitalnews9.com/content/top_st...asp?ArID=157032


Suzanne Lyall's family reacts to Regan's arrest

11/14/2005 7:36 PM
By: Scott Patterson

Memories come flooding back to Doug and Mary Lyall every time a person disappears, like their daughter Suzanne did in 1998.

And every time someone is arrested for abduction or attempted abduction, police usually get in touch. So it came as no surprise when the Milton couple was contacted about John Regan, the man who has been charged with trying to kidnap a Saratoga Springs high school student.

Suzanne's father Doug Lyall said, "To my knowledge Mr. Regan didn't say a whole lot, and is still not saying anything. I think it's a matter of the police agencies doing a lot of footwork."

Investigators are doing just that, trying to find out if Regan's travels could make him a suspect in Suzanne's disappearance.

Suzanne's Mother Mary Lyall said, "Every time an interview like this happens, we become very numb. It takes us several days to really recover."

It's been seven and a half years since Suzanne Lyall disappeared. She was last seen on the University at Albany campus. Her disappearance changed her parent's lives dramatically, in a way that many will never know.

Mary Lyall said, "You just sit and you wait and try to move on a little bit with your life and there's no way that you can move on."

Reminders like the Regan case don't help. The Lyalls know the chances of Regan holding the answers they've been looking for are slim, but they said anything's possible.

Doug Lyall said, "In the meantime we will kind of continue to wait and we should be used to that, but we're not."

For Doug and Mary, waiting has become a way of life.



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http://www.saratogian.com/site/news.cfm?ne..._id=17708&rfi=6

Local families turn suspicion to Regan

JIM KINNEY, The Saratogian
11/15/2005

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- The mother of a Milton girl missing since June 30 immediately thought of her daughter when she heard of a man trying to kidnap a senior Oct. 31 at Saratoga Springs High School.

'I just think there is a possibility he had something to do with Christina,' Suzanne White said. 'She was 19, but she looked 16 or 17.'

Her daughter, Christina N. White, is now 20. She was last seen for sure at her family's Rock City Road home, although there was an unconfirmed sighting on Geyser Road the night of her disappearance. Police have considered her a possible runaway, something her mother discounts because Christina left home without taking anything and hasn't tried to access her money since she left.

White's questions also have been on the minds of other parents with missing daughters. Mary Lyall, mother of missing Ballston Spa native, Suzanne Lyall, rattled off a list of such cases.

'They are going back over cases from 20 years ago with this guy,' Mary Lyall said Monday of accused abductor John F. Regan.

Regan, 49, of Waterbury, Conn., has since fallen under suspicion in the case of Molly Bish, a 16-year-old lifeguard who disappeared from a pond in Warren, Mass., in 2000. Her body was later found.

The Saratoga Springs girl, who had been walking alone through a crowded parking lot to her car following cross country practice, was able to fight him off and get away.

Like Bish, the Saratoga Springs runner is blonde and athletic.

Police arrested Regan a short time later a few blocks away. Later, they learned he was free on bail in Connecticut and is awaiting trail on charges of attempted rape in 2004 and kidnapping in 1993.

According to police in Connecticut, Regan also had pictures taken of women on the street in Saratoga Springs. They said Saratoga Springs Police found a rope tied in a slipknot, liquor, a rake and tarp in Regan's van here.

According to published reports, Connecticut police found that Regan had looked up a newspaper story on the Saratoga Springs victim on his home computer.

Monday, Saratoga Springs Police Chief Ed Moore wouldn't comment on the evidence Connecticut authorities have talked about.

But he did say police realized very quickly the night of the alleged kidnapping attempt that other departments would be interested in this case.

'Maybe he's a serial offender,' he said. 'But maybe he's not. That's why we wanted the information out there.'

Mary Lyall said her husband Doug spoke Monday with the lead detective on Suzanne Lyall's case. Lyall, a University at Albany sophomore, disappeared in 1998.

'They are aware of Regan,' Mary Lyall said. 'But there is nothing new to report.'

Suzanne White said the lead investigator on her daughter's case, Sheriff's Investigator Michael Zurlo, told her he gave Christina White's file to the city police department and is reviewing their findings.

White has brown hair, unlike Bish and the Saratoga Springs victim. White also suffers from bi-polar disorder, and favors dark goth-style clothing.

Zurlo couldn't be reached Monday.

The Center for Hope, a charity the Lyalls established in Suzanne's honor, is hosting 'An Afternoon with Santa' from 1 to 4 p.m. Dec. 11 at Canfield Casino in Congress Park. The idea is to raise money for a missing-person's 'remorial' in Albany. Children will also be able to take part in a state fingerprint and photo ID program.

ŠThe Saratogian 2005


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http://www.capitalnews9.com/content/your_n...asp?ArID=170561

Anniversary of Lyall's disappearance

Updated: 3/2/2006 10:44 PM
By: Capital News 9 Web Staff

It's been eight years since SUNY Albany Student Suzanne Lyall disappeared without a trace from the University campus.

She was last seen March 2, 1998 getting off a bus at the uptown campus.

Since her disappearance her family has helped organize New York State Missing Person's Day. The same day as Suzanne's birthday.

Her parents said every day is difficult, but they never lose hope.

Thursday marked the eight year anniversary since SUNY Albany Student, Suzanne Lyall disappeared. Since then her family has helped organize the New York State Missing Person's Day.

Mary Lyall said, "Hopefully there's going to be that one lead, that one person who's feeling like, you know, we finally need closure. We really do. As you move on in your life, it's so difficult to not have the closure."

The Lyall's have also started the Center for Hope; a place where anyone with a missing person can go for support.




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