Top stories of 2018: Missing Cutchogue woman found after 51 years

The remains of Louise Pietrewicz of Cutchogue, who vanished without a trace in October 1966, were unearthed March 19 in the basement of the Southold house her married boyfriend, former Southold police officer William Boken, shared with his wife and children.

Southold police dug into the sandy soil beneath the home on Lower Road, discovering a burlap bag wrapped around skeletal remains, which were later confirmed through DNA testing to be those of Ms. Pietrewicz.

During interviews with Southold police Det. Sgt. John Sinning and former Southold detective Joseph Conway Jr., Judith Terry of Southold, the late Mr. Boken’s former wife, directed police to the basement of the home, where she said a body wrapped in burlap was buried soon after Ms. Pietrewicz’s family reported her missing. Mr. Boken and Ms. Terry separated soon after the disappearance and she sold the home in the late 1970s. He died in 1982.

Suffolk Police detectives said they believe the late Mr. Boken committed the murder and no charges have been filed in the case. The Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s office said Ms. Pietrewicz died from three gunshot wounds to the abdomen.

The police investigation into her disappearance was reopened late last year after The Suffolk Times launched its own investigation into the case. The paper released a special report, along with a three-part documentary, in October 2017 that suggested Mr. Boken had committed the murder. Local rumors had long implicated Ms. Pietrewicz’s husband, Albin, from whom she was estranged, in her murder.

Ms. Pietrewicz, who was 38 at the time she was reported missing, left behind a 10-year-old daughter, Sandy. In May, Sandy Blampied and her uncle, Leo Jasinski of Riverhead, hosted a memorial service at Coster Heppner Funeral Home in Cutchogue that was attended by more than 200 people.