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Local cold case takes national spotlight

June 7, 2009

Almost 16 years after a woman was found dead in an East Lansing apartment complex, her unsolved homicide case will take national spotlight today as the featured case on the homepage of the “America’s Most Wanted” Web site.

According to State News reports at the time, East Lansing resident Mary Jean D’Agostino, 30, was found naked from the waist down with a cloth shoved in her mouth at about 2 a.m. Aug. 29, 1993, in the hallway of a 787 Burcham Drive apartment building. She had lived there at one point but had moved out before she was killed. An autopsy report revealed she was strangled.

An investigation by the East Lansing Police Department was inconclusive and no suspect was found, East Lansing police Capt. Kim Johnson said.

“(The case) is still on our radar,” he said. “It has stuck with the department — the fact someone was killed and we don’t have any idea who did it.”

D’Agostino spent the night of Aug. 28, 1993, dancing and having a few drinks at a club and left alone between 1 and 1:15 a.m. Aug. 29, the “America’s Most Wanted” Web site said.

Less than an hour before D’Agostino’s body was found, a resident of the apartment building heard a female shout, “OK, go ahead and kill me!” the Web site said.

The State News reported at the time that friends said D’Agostino, despite being a good person, was “troubled” and had a criminal history. Self-inflicted burns covered 60 percent of her body, leaving her incapable of bending her arms fully, The State News reported.

Police hope the feature of the case on the “America’s Most Wanted” Web site might steer investigation toward a suspect, Johnson said. Viewers can call a tip line at 1-800-CRIME-TV with information, which is then forwarded to East Lansing Police.

East Lansing police Sgt. Scott Wriggelsworth said police have remained diligent in looking at leads and trying to solve the case to find justice for D’Agostino and her family.

The “America’s Most Wanted” Web site, he said, is another way to find a lead.

“We’ve been dealing with the family right along through this investigation, trying to do anything and everything in our power to see some justice done for (D’Agostino) and her family,” he said.

“You just never know when you’re going to get the one tip that breaks the case.”

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