The case of Mary Traversa hasn’t been far from my mind since I first read about it. I even thought she was haunting me for a time. Perhaps this was just temporary insanity…. or maybe she’s a woman who wants to have some justice, finally.

On May 13, 1997 at around 1:30 a.m. her fire-engulfed van was discovered on the side of road. She’d been on her way home from work. It would have been ruled an accident if it hadn’t been for the bullet found in her neck.

By all accounts she was a hardworking mother of two and she was taking care of her aging father as well. She had no known enemies, which led law enforcement to believe that this was a random act of violence. Her death was senseless and reminds me so much of my own mother’s senseless murder.

Here is the cold case entry for Mary on the Osceola County website.

Here are some clips from the Orlando Sentinel:

May 14, 1997: http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1997-05-14/news/9705130973_1_traversa-bullet-sheriff-office

May 16, 1997: http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1997-05-16/news/9705151144_1_traversa-osceola-bullet

May 17, 1997: http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1997-05-17/news/9705161140_1_traversa-limnios-woman-shot

July 9, 1997: http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1997-07-09/news/9707080647_1_traversa-osceola-county-sheriff-lucky-break

August 1, 1997: http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1997-08-01/news/9707311179_1_traversa-lie-detector-lie-tests