Kumari Shreya
The mysterious fate of Suzanne “Suzy” Lyall is one of the many discussed in Investigations Discocvery’s ‘Disappeared.’ Season 5, episode 12 of the series, which is titled ‘Disappeared: Final Exam,’ sheds light on the events that happened before Suzy disappeared and the impact her absence has had on her loved ones. The young woman, whom many believed dedicated to her exams, became a topic of interest for many, given the questions surrounding her.
Suzanne “Suzy” Lyall Disappeared Near Her Dorms
Daughter of Mary and Doug Lyall, Suzy Lyall had entered the University at Albany in 1997, though she had been a student of SUNY Oneonta in her freshman year in 1996. Having grown up in Upstate New York, Mary was on good terms with her family and apparently would visit them for special events. However, on March 1, 1998, she called her mother to apologize for not coming to attend her birthday, stating that she had wanted to study for her mid-term exams.
Apart from being a diligent student, Suzy also had a part-time job at Crossgates Mall in Albany, New York. An employee of a software store called Babbage’s Store, she would travel to work location from her dormitory via public transportation. A similar pattern was followed on March 2, 1998, when she availed a Capital District Transit Authority to travel from her work to her University Campus. As stated by authorities, she got off the bus at about 9:20 – 9:25 PM at the Collins Circle bus stop, which was apparently only about 99 to 950 feet.
However, Suzy never did make it back to her dorms after she left the bus. According to her roommates, they never heard the 19-year-old come back to the dorm, something that they seemingly would keep track of by the jingling of her keys. Additionally, Suzy’s boyfriend, Richard Condon, grew concerned when she did not give him the customary phone call after she reached back home. The very next day, Suzy’s boyfriend called her mother, Mary, asking if she knew that she was not yet back in her dorm.
Initially, Suzy’s loved ones and friends tried to look for her on their own. None of her belongings, other than what she might have had on her on a usual day of work, were missing. Neither had she mentioned to anyone that she might have been planning on disappearing. Three days after Suzy’s friends and families started looking for her, they contacted the authorities, and an official search for her began. The delay in the informing seems to have stemmed from the fact that the campus police had initially not believed Suzy’s disappearance to be that serious and allegedly believed brief periods of absence to be not a point of concern.
It was after Suzy missed two exams and had failed to show up at classes that the campus p[police seemingly agreed to report Suzy missing properly. Her family also learned that a withdrawal of $20 had been made from her account via an ATM at Stewart’s location store in Albany. The timing of the transactions was about 4 PM on March 3, 1998. However, witnesses stated that they did not remember seeing anyone matching her description at the time. It was also noted that the first attempt at providing an ATM pin had been wrong
Suzanne “Suzy” Lyall Has Yet to be Found
Despite the fact that the police looked for Suzy Lyall over an area of about 400 acres, which included places she often visited, no one has been able to find her. Her family and the authorities had joined hands to provide a prize pot of $15,000 to anyone whose information would prove helpful in finding out about her whereabouts, though it has not come true yet. Many believe that some foul play might be at work and that someone may have taken her while she was simply trying to go back to her dorm.
After about a month of investigation, this particular case became a cold one, though that did not stop Suzy’s parents from fighting for her. In 2015, her father, Doug Lyall, passed away, a loss mourned by many. However, Marty Lyall, Suzy’s mother, remains at her childhood home and apparently tries not to make any changes to Suzy’s room. Even today, Mary remains hopeful about reuniting with their daughter, though she and Doug did take a path of activism so as to reduce the impact of a similar situation.
In honor of Suzy’s memory, her parents fought hard to ensure that similar kinds of cases were not dealt with in the same manner as when the wound was fresh for them as well. Thanks to their efforts, a law called the Campus Safety Act, or the “Suzanne’s Law,” was passed. In 2003, they were consulted by the president to come up with the PROTECT Act of 2003. Even today, Mary continues to work hard on the efforts started by her family and friends.
Notably, about a month before her disappearance, Suzy did tell her friends that she believed that someone was sticking her. However, she had apparently commented that it was all not harmless and not something to be overly concerned about. The police also shared that she had not been able to rule out Suzy’s partner, Richard Condon, as a suspect. However, with minimal clues, there had been very little headway in finding out just what had happened to Suzy.
Read More: Lucely Aramburo: What Happened to Her? Has She Been Found?
