Original subtitles

- [Narrator] Suzanne Lyall, better known to her friends,

family, and coworkers as Suzy,

was an extremely intelligent, thoughtful,

and compassionate human being.

Her interests in technology and talents for computer science

were cut short by an unexplainable, untraceable vanishing

in March of 1998, leaving all who knew her,

both in life and through the World Wide Web,

grasping for answers in a sea of evidence

that drowned us all in doubt.

Amateur sleuths and professional investigators

have spent the better part of almost two decades

digging theoretical tunnels and holding magnifying glasses

up to anything and everything

that might shed that one decisive clue

in the ultimate reasons behind Suzy's disappearance.

These probes and perusals,

combined with assorted observable evidence,

have only created headaches

more than they've solved questions,

leaving the uncracked mystery up for grabs

by anyone willing to tackle it.

As a hope to provide a more substantial reasoning

built upon observable evidence and situational analysis,

this is an examination of the disappearance of Suzanne Lyall

and the proceeding mystery at Collins Circle.

This is Cold Case Detective.

(tense music)

(somber music)

Suzanne Lyall was born on April the 6th, 1978,

in Saratoga Springs, New York.

She was the youngest of three siblings

to parents, Doug and Mary,

who hadn't planned for a third child

but welcomed Suzy into their world.

Suzy was a quiet, shy,

yet unbelievably introspective young girl.

Growing up close to her older brother, Stephen,

Suzy would stick to herself at school

instead of forming many social relationships.

However, she nonetheless developed a deep understanding

of human nature and wrote poetry in her notebooks,

so passionate that she would jump out

in the middle of a shower with the water still on

and run into her room

just to jot down her latest inspiration.

This sensitivity and dedication soon bled into the realm

of science and technology,

where Suzy would research all day

and build machines and trinkets from scratch by night.

In high school, Suzy discovered her love for computers

and by extension, the internet.

As a teenager, Suzy would form virtual friendships

with other tech lovers on message boards,

eventually joining a computer club

in the nearby town coffee shop.

It was at these informal meetings

where Suzy met her long term boyfriend, Richard Condon,

a fellow intellectual and computer whiz.

Over the next few years, Suzy and Richard grew very close.

Even after he left high school,

a couple of years before she did,

Suzy maintained a romantic relationship

with Richard despite their age difference.

In 1996, Suzy finally graduated from local high school

and attended State University of New York at Oneonta

to officially study computer science.

However, just a year at Oneonta proved to be too easy

for Suzy as her coursework

wasn't challenging her actual level of intelligence.

To increase her studies,

Suzy transferred to the State University of New York

at Albany, or SUNY Albany for short.

Doug and Mary believed that Suzy had actually transferred

to be closer to Richard, who lived much closer to Albany.

Doug described Richard as being very mature for his age,

and Mary felt that he had been a little controlling

in regards to his relationship with Suzy.

It didn't affect Suzy's independence, though,

as she worked two off-campus jobs at local computer stores,

including a Babbage's game shop

at the local Crossgates Mall in Guilderland, New York.

As time passed through the winter of 1998,

all seemed normal to Suzy and the rest of the Lyall family.

Doug and Mary were happy as empty-nesters

with their three children achieving their goals

and moving on to greater things.

Suzy was balancing classes with work, a relationship,

and of course, her passion for computers.

Everything proceeded smoothly,

despite the occasional school-related stress,

until March of '98 brought an unexpected gloom and doom

to not just Suzy Lyall, but her family and friends as well.

Sometime during the years of 1993 or 1994,

Suzy meets up with her boyfriend, Richard Condon,

on the internet and joins his computer club

at a local New York State coffee shop.

They soon enter a relationship whilst both in high school

that lasts for the next few years.

At various points through the next few years,

Suzy and Richard's relationship fluctuates,

almost breaking apart during a few unstable moments,

but never creating a hostile or harsh situation.

In the summer of '97,

Suzy transfers to a State University in Oneonta

to SUNY Albany to engage in more demanding courses

and supposedly be closer to Richard.

Later that year in the autumn of '97,

Suzy supplements her income with a couple of jobs.

Not long after the turn of the new year in winter of '98,

Suzy tells an anonymous coworker at the mall

that she feels as if she's being stalked

by someone she doesn't recognize.

Suzy shows little fear or anxiety despite the hunch,

and never reveals further details

to either the coworker or her family.

On Valentine's Day, Suzy's mother, Mary,

drives her to Richard's house

in the afternoon for a quick stop.

Mary theorizes that Suzy was delivering

a Dear John letter as preparation for a final break-up.

She concludes that Suzy's tension

increased as a result of seeing someone else.

Who this someone could be was unknown.

Throughout the remaining days of February, 1998,

Suzy goes to work at Babbage's under immense stress

from upcoming exams, often appearing uptight

and in a variety of moods around her boss at the shop.

On March the 1st of that year,

Mary talks to Suzy for the last time.

Mary recalls Suzy being concerned about her finances

and waiting for the next paycheck to arrive.

Mary attempts to offer a bit of money to her daughter,

but Suzy declines the proposal.

On the morning of March the 2nd,

Suzy completes the big exam she had been anxious about

in the preceding weeks.

Either right before, or right after the exam

on the same fateful day,

Suzy withdraws her usual $20 from an ATM machine

located near the bus terminal at Collins Circle,

the normal stop for Suzy before she leaves for work.

Later in the afternoon on the 2nd,

Suzy makes another uncharacteristic ATM withdrawal

at about the same time her shift at Babbage's starts

in Crossgates Mall, at a machine located near the store,

again, in the amount of $20.

Moments later, when Suzy actually clocks in for work

at 4:00 p.m., she appears more like her average self,

much calmer than she'd been in the month of February,

at least according to her manager.

At about 8:00 p.m., on the 2nd,

the manager of Babbage's leaves for the day,

leaving Suzy to finish up her shift per usual.

Everything is how it should be,

but unknowingly to the manager,

this is the last time he'll make contact with her.

Around an hour later, at 9:20 p.m.,

a nighttime security guard at the back lot

of Crossgates Mall, cannot confirm with 100% certainty

that he saw Suzy Lyall leave the store,

but does mention that nothing was out of the ordinary,

even though the employee exit area was poorly lit.

It's understood that, at that time,

Suzy boards a Capital District Transportation Authority bus

headed towards campus,

profiled by the bus driver at the time.

This is the last confirmed sighting

of Suzanne Lyall before her disappearance.

After a 25-minute commute, at 9:45 p.m.,

the bus makes its scheduled stop at Collins Circle.

The driver at the time could not remember

if Suzy had exited, though a friend of hers

claims she saw her get off the bus and walk away.

This would be the last unconfirmed sighting of Suzanne.

The next morning, on March the 3rd,

Suzy's boyfriend, Richard, makes a call to her parents,

informing them that he never received a call or email

from Suzy the night before after returning from work

and couldn't reach contact with her.

Just a few hours pass by before Doug and Mary

contact SUNY Albany campus police

to officially announce that Suzy is missing.

The campus police do not immediately react, however,

and say periods of absence for college students is common.

One of the officers attended Suzy's next class

to look for her, but she never arrives.

At 4:00 p.m., on March the 3rd,

Mary has the idea to call Suzy's bank

and inquire about her spending history.

The bank reveals that Suzy's bank account had been accessed

at an undisclosed ATM machine mere minutes

before Mary's phone call.

The amount taken was Suzy's normal withdrawal of $20,

but the location wouldn't be known until the next day.

The morning of March the 4th,

Suzy's bank calls Mary again to inform her

that the location ping for the ATM came through,

and was recorded by a machine

at Stewart's Shop convenience store in Albany,

a few miles away from campus

and in a part of town rarely visited by Suzy.

When the mail arrives later on March the 4th,

Mary Lyall discovers a birthday card

from none other than Suzy herself.

It seems like a normal gesture,

but the timing is certainly peculiar

and a bit unsettling, as Suzy included a note

that said, see you soon, inside the card.

On March the 5th,

after attending another one of Suzy's classes,

in which she was unaccounted for,

the case had become an anomaly

compared to most missing college student profiles,

and calls in New York State Police

to assist in the impending search.

In the following weeks during heavy police investigation,

Richard Condon is interviewed

but quickly understood as innocent.

Richard provides an alibi for the night of March the 2nd,

in which he was playing video games with another friend.

Police also interview the bus driver

on Suzy's route to and from work,

who says he remembered Suzy get on the bus in the evening,

and was for certain she didn't get off

at the last stop at night,

but wasn't sure if she did indeed

exit the bus at Collins Circle.

A few weeks of analysis of the ATM withdrawal

also lead police to unrelated security camera footage

of an unidentified man shopping

at Stewart's Shop convenience store

around the time of Suzy's account usage.

The man was wearing a ball cap and jacket,

and a sketch of his face was shown to the public,

his profile titled the Nike Man.

In May of 1998, authorities discover Suzy's name tag

from Babbage's in a parking lot on the SUNY campus,

90 feet from the bus stop.

However, it's never determined

how long the tag had been lying there,

and police recover zero traces of DNA or other forensics.

Later that year, the supposed Nike Man

from the police sketch comes forward

and cooperates with investigators,

in which he is interviewed

regarding the events of March the 3rd.

His story removes any suspicion,

and is quickly dropped as either a witness or suspect.

Despite endless searches and efforts over the next 20 years,

no new evidence or leads turn up.

The most recent development in the case is in 2016,

when Mary Lyall teams up with local experts

in detailed underwater mapping

after she repeatedly felt odd feelings

while driving over the Crescent Bridge

on top of Mohawk River.

Unfortunately, nothing of significance is reported,

and the disappearance of Suzanne Lyall

remains cold as of this moment.

(somber music)

When dissecting the entire case,

the most scrutinized and heavily referenced pieces

of evidence are the ATM withdrawals and complete mystery

regarding who exactly accessed the machine

with both Suzy's debit card

and the respective personal identification number.

The most glaring detail with this case point

is the time in which it happened.

Somebody accessed Suzy's account

well after she was last seen.

This alone makes little sense.

If Suzy was robbed and then kidnapped,

why would the culprit wait almost 24 hours

before actually using her debit card?

It's been clarified that only two people knew the exact PIN

for the bank account, which were Suzy herself

and Richard, her boyfriend.

However, while this seems suspicious on the surface,

it wouldn't take too much coercion for a kidnapper

or perpetrator to coax the information from Suzy

if she was held captive.

That's not the only strange aspect

to the ATM ordeal, though.

Doug and Mary Lyall were certain the location of the ATM,

at an Albany convenience store

in a different part of the town,

was nowhere near the usual route Suzy took

to either work or leisure activities.

It wasn't a popular place for purchases

made by fellow SUNY students, either.

The clerk at Stewart's Shop

did not recognize Suzy's picture,

and didn't remember seeing her

on March the 3rd or any day prior.

Police thought they had the ATM mini-mystery solved

when they viewed CCTV footage at Stewart's Shop

and noticed a suspicious figure,

who walked inside of the convenience store

around the same time the ATM machine was operated

under Suzy's account.

This spawned the Nike Man suspect and conspiracy theories,

but ended up being nothing more

than circumstantial theory and rumored racial profiling.

Of course, the frustrating part

about the CCTV footage and the ATM use

is the fact that the cameras

do not actually cover the ATM machine itself,

instead they are positioned

above the counter inside of the store.

Thus, anyone can use the ATM

without exposing their identity.

This adds a wrinkle in Suzy's case.

Not only are we blocked

from seeing who was exactly activating her information,

but we must take into consideration

that this location was used on purpose by the user.

Whether it be a kidnapper or even Suzy herself,

the user might have known

this specific ATM was protective of identity,

and could only be traced by GPS,

rather than facial profiling.

In the grand scheme of things,

the ATM controversy is certainly the biggest case point,

but also a fruitless trail of conspiracy and confusion,

rather than telling us anything useful at all,

besides the fact that someone involved

was risking their plan at 4:00 p.m. on March the 3rd.

(somber music)

Since the day Suzanne Lyall went missing,

the ATM conspiracies sparked up,

and her name tag was discovered

in the parking lot near Collins Circle,

countless theories have been proposed

across the internet and publications all over the world,

trying to unlock the secrets

of the seemingly unexplainable mystery.

The most popular theory centered

around Suzy's longtime boyfriend, Richard Condon.

Despite his alibi clearing him

of any potential guilt or wrongdoing,

followers of the case stuck with their gut feelings.

Many pointed out that he was the only other party

to have Suzy's bank account PIN in his possession,

and would probably be aware of her $20 withdrawal pattern.

However, as previously mentioned,

anyone could force Suzy to share the PIN

under the right circumstances,

and it wouldn't make any sense

for Richard to leave such an obvious clue behind

when people knew he would use the ATM at will.

Because so many kidnappings and murders

involve two familiar parties,

Richard was an easy target,

due to his close connection with Suzy.

They did initially meet over the internet,

which immediately drew red flags for Suzy's parents.

Doug Lyall described Richard

as an incredibly intelligent individual,

mature beyond his years,

and devoted to he and Suzy's relationship.

Mary Lyall thought he was too clingy

and a controlling boyfriend,

always checking in on Suzy in the evening

and accessing her computer from his own,

violating what most would see as an invasion of privacy.

In fact, a few internet conspirators proposed

that Richard hacked the Stewart's Shop ATM

from his computer, to purposely throw off investigators.

Regardless of Richard's perceived characteristics,

Suzy never outwardly complained of his persistence

or overbearing personality.

Police weren't ever 100% willing

to give up on Richard as a suspect though.

After a couple months of investigation,

and around the time that Nike Man theories

went up in flames,

police attempted to conduct a second round

of interviews with Richard.

However, Richard refused this time,

citing he wouldn't talk anymore without a lawyer present

and rejected a request to take a lie detector test.

Without any actual evidence connecting Richard

to Suzy's disappearance,

authorities took this as a sign to move on.

Yet the same persistent conspirators,

both online and in person,

viewed Richard's later absence

to be a potential admittance of guilt.

In rebuttal, it's important to remember

that Richard fully cooperated with all questioning

in the first time around.

Police questioning is not an enjoyable process,

and having to deal with a heated interrogation

with an already established alibi,

couldn't have been very helpful to the search anyways.

Polygraph tests are also incredibly unreliable

and often inaccurate.

It would make sense for Richard to fear

that his own anxieties and nerves bubbling up

during an interview would skew the lie detector test

and falsely imply his guilt,

a common issue seen in criminal investigations

throughout the years.

When one thinks about the point

in which police went back to Richard,

it becomes obvious that,

after the Nike Man suspect fell through,

authorities were desperate for a concrete lead

or new suspect, and figured Richard

to be a probable receptor.

In the end, Richard maintained his innocence

throughout the process, eventually remarried,

and moved on from the case entirely.

A couple of other potential suspects were considered

at one point or another,

although both were cleared almost as fast

as they were encumbered.

One of the suspects wasn't actually profiled

as a specific person,

but instead hypothetically drew up

from a very similar case exactly 13 years prior

to Suzy's disappearance.

In March, 1985, another SUNY Albany undergraduate student

named Karen Wilson was last seen

getting off a public transit bus one mile away from campus.

Much like Suzy's vanishing,

an intense search bore no evidence or traces of Karen,

leaving the case just as cold.

When combing through other criminal records

in the upstate New York area,

police also came across documents

from an anonymous convicted rapist,

who just so happened to be on the move

at the exact same time Suzy disappeared.

However, upon extraditing the felon from Illinois

back to New York for questioning,

he revealed a solid alibi

and was excluded for any further consideration.

Another convicted criminal was reckoned

to be a suspect seven years later in 2005,

when a man named John Regan

faced trial for attempted abduction

of a female high school student in 1993.

The kidnapping occurred

on the streets close to Saratoga Springs High School,

just a short distance away

from the Lyall's hometown of Ballston Spa.

Both Suzy's parents and investigators

thought the similarities of the cases were peculiar,

and attempted to question John

about any possible involvement.

Unfortunately, John refused to discuss any outside cases

with authorities, and ended up in jail for his own crime.

Police skeptically crossed his name off the list.

One of the biggest theories churned from the mystery

is one that many people are afraid to consider

and do not want to discuss,

the fact that Suzanne Lyall might have left

on her own accord.

While there is no explicit evidence

that confirms such a belief,

it must be considered in a case

with no solid rhyme or reason.

Suzy was a very private person

with little social interaction.

She had her boyfriend, her family members,

and her coworkers, but that was about it,

at least to our knowledge.

It's important to remember she spent a lot of time

on the internet, connecting virtually

to a whole other community.

That's how she met Richard in the first place,

so it's not out of the realm of possibility

that she met others in anonymous message boards.

What if she met a group of people

that persuaded her to leave?

While incredibly unlikely,

there wasn't anything forcing her to stay

in the Albany area.

In the same vein, Suzy's mother said multiple times

that Suzy was living paycheck to paycheck

and specifically worried about her funds

in the days leading up to her disappearance.

Mary even tried to loan a little money

but Suzy was quick to reject the offer.

Another internet-related possibility

was Suzy found an alternative method to make money

or received an offer she couldn't refuse

from someone out there in the web.

If it were far away from home,

she would most certainly need a little money

to supplement the journey,

which would explain the frequent ATM withdrawals,

both on the 2nd and on the 3rd of March.

Everyone wants to say that someone

must have coaxed the account PIN from Suzy

and used the machine themselves,

but because Suzy was one of only two people

to know the security number,

it was Suzy herself to make the withdrawals.

Both Doug and Mary Lyall agree

that their daughter was a creature of habit,

and wouldn't venture away from her normal way of life,

which, on one hand, explains the consistency

of the $20 money orders,

but also makes one question why

she'd make such a drastic decision

to leave home as well.

It would also be very cold-hearted to leave

without telling a single soul,

but to also send her mother a birthday card

promising to see her soon.

On the other hand, it's more likely

that Suzy had a secret mission only she knew about,

and was kidnapped, or worse, somewhere along the way.

She very easily could have wanted to remain quiet

about an errand or internet-related task,

but ran into trouble without anyone knowing.

This would still explain the random ATM usage,

and why she disappeared without a trace,

while leaving her possessions behind.

The one argument against such a claim,

and the biggest wrinkle in the entire Suzanne Lyall case

is the employee name tag found in the parking lot

near Collins Circle two months after the disappearance.

If Suzy left on her own accord,

why in the world would she, or her kidnapper,

come back to SUNY Albany campus

to place her name tag near the place she was last seen?

The only reasonable thought is Suzy dropped it off

after departing the bus and rerouting to another destination

other than her dorm,

considering the parking lot in which the tag was found

is in the opposite direction of Suzy's living quarters.

Some reports have stated the name tag found

isn't even the one she would have been wearing

the night she worked last.

It's also peculiar that the clue wasn't even discovered

until two months after she went missing.

If the SUNY Albany campus was combed by investigators

as rigorously as they maintained it was,

the whole scenario is as mind boggling as the case itself,

leaving most theories up in the air.

When looking at the big picture, it's nearly impossible

to confidently give forth a solid conclusion

regarding Suzanne Lyall's mysterious disappearance.

However, taking everything into consideration,

only one theory truly makes sense.

Suzy was taken by someone only she knew,

anonymous to even her closest friends and family.

This hypothesis stems from two major clues

hinted at by Suzy's coworkers and her mother.

The coworker revealed early on in the search

that Suzy had mentioned she felt she was being followed

by an unknown figure, but wasn't worried,

meaning it could have been someone

she either vaguely recognized

or wasn't even sure it was a stalker.

Then Mary Lyall shared she believed Suzy

had been seeing someone outside of Richard,

due to a little bit of strange behavior

and the crumbling connection with her ex-boyfriend.

Both propositions are quite possible,

and while neither can be confirmed,

they would both play intricate roles

in a possible kidnapping,

and could easily be connected to one another.

How did Suzy know this theoretical person?

The internet.

Records indicate that police did a technical analysis

of Suzy's computer,

but whether or not they sourced her browsing history

or frequented message boards is unknown.

Even if they did,

it's not difficult to hide virtual relationships

that aren't tethered to a physical hard drive.

If Suzy was indeed stirring something up

with somebody she wanted to keep a secret,

the internet was probably her only communication.

Inclusion of the fact that Suzy was incredibly gifted

with computer science and a long-time internet user,

only legitimates this theory.

She could have hidden this information from Richard,

who had access to her files, and took the secret with her.

We've also concluded that the prime mystery

at Collins Circle didn't actually happen

at Collins Circle at all,

instead happening at an unspecific location

between the Crossgates Mall and SUNY Albany campus.

This conclusion arises from the lack of assurance

in supposed eyewitness sightings of Suzy

after she clocked off work.

The night security guard at the mall

said nothing was out of the ordinary

in the back employee parking lot,

and the bus driver of the specific vessel

that picked up Suzy on the night of March the 2nd

confirmed that he saw her get on board at 9:20 p.m.

However, the assurances stop after that.

The bus driver never remembers Suzy exiting the bus

at Collins Circle, but knows she got off

before the last stop.

In addition, the student, who claims to have seen Suzy

on campus at 9:45 the night she vanished,

only thought she saw Suzy,

and was interviewed an entire 48 hours after the fact.

These wobbly, unsure sightings are too fragile

to believe with certainty.

In terms of after boarding the bus,

we believe Suzy met with her contact in the Albany suburbs

and was either abducted that night,

or sometime during the following day.

She was most likely meeting a secret lover

or virtual friend, probably needing money

to explain her random withdrawals throughout the afternoon,

and then was forced to take out more the following day

after the suspect showed their true colors,

explaining the ATM withdrawals on March the 3rd.

The perpetrator probably strategized

using an ATM without a dependable security camera,

and utilized the Stewart's Shop hidden machine

and out of the view of CCTV.

We believe Suzy was still alive on March the 3rd,

and was the person to actually use the bank PIN,

since it had been entered in correctly only once

and her usual $20 amount was withdrawn.

After this moment, while under the threat of her captor,

Suzy's fate dissolved into darkness.

She never returned to campus,

as her tap card for the dormitory

wasn't used after March the 2nd.

In terms of the mysterious name tag

found in the SUNY Albany parking lot,

we figure the true perpetrator discovered

that was the assuming location

of Suzy's last confirmed activity a couple of months

after the initial disappearance.

So, they thought of an item that would link to Suzy,

cleaned her work name tag, traveled back to the campus,

and placed it near the Collins Circle bus stop,

all to try and keep authorities on the wrong trail.

It may seem like an unnecessarily and extensive scheme,

but the clues lack plausibility in the first place

and fits within the ultimate findings.

We are confident she intended to resume her normal life

after the meeting with an assumed stranger,

resting in the fact that she told her mother,

in her birthday card, see you soon.

What eventually happened to Suzanne Lyall

will not be speculated to save her case

from the endless pits of inconsiderate conspiracy theory.

Her parents have attempted the same grace,

and through finding the positives

of such a confusing tragedy,

have managed to sustain laws regarding the time period

state and federal law enforcements

investigate missing persons cases.

Young adults like Suzy, specifically college students,

have historically been mishandled when reportedly missing,

and the Lyall's legal efforts

have made their daughter's age group just as much a priority

as young children.

It's regular people like us

who can help aid these programs,

and help fight the growing number of missing persons cases.

We wouldn't report this

if we didn't think it could help remind the world,

spread awareness, and potentially help bring a new clue

or lead to the forefront of the search.

Until we find her, Suzy will remain a symbol

of inspiration and remembrance.

It's important not to forget that, before her case froze,

she was a human being,

a woman with a future in computer science

and leader in technology advancement in the 21st century.

She was quietly bright,

with intelligence unlike any of her peers.

Her dedication to poetry and creativity

sparked a light across all she came into contact with,

and we hope that light continues to shine again here soon.

Until then, the search continues,

as we push for persuasiveness and fight for answers

to the disappearance of Suzanne Lyall

and the mystery at Collins Circle.

This is Cold Case Detective.

(somber music)