Details about the nearly 45-year-old trail to find Beth Doe’s killer and an abusive relationship unfolded in the paperwork filed against the woman’s former neighbor and boyfriend.

Court documents filed by Trooper Gabrielle Wan Wie of the Pennsylvania State Police Fern Ridge barracks detailed the case against Luis Sierra:

At 4:30 p.m. Dec. 20, 1976, remains of a woman and fetus were discovered along the Lehigh River in East Side Borough.

The woman, now known as Evelyn Colon, had been dismembered and placed into three suitcases that were thrown from the Lehigh River bridge along Route 80 to the riverbank below.

An autopsy determined the cause of death to be strangulation.

The fetus was a full-term girl (about 8-9 months), the victim’s head was severed, and the nose and ears were cut off. The victim also had a gunshot wound to her neck.

Located within the suitcases were pages of the New York Sunday News newspaper dated Sept. 25, 1976. Based on the advertising, it was determined that the paper was likely circulated in New Jersey.

Family ties

In 2007, a DNA sample was submitted to a laboratory in Texas. Recently, the DNA profile led police to Luis Colon Jr.

Colon was contacted and confirmed that he had an aunt who went missing in the 1970s.

His father, Luis Colon Sr., was interviewed and said his sister, Evelyn, had been missing for several decades.

He described her, including a mole on her cheek and a scar on her leg.

Colon said that his sister was about 15, and was 8-9 months pregnant in 1976 when he last saw her in Jersey City, New Jersey. He said that the father was her boyfriend, Luis Sierra, who lived next door to them.

Colon had not seen Sierra since Evelyn left.

Evelyn’s sister, Migdalia Colon, told police that Evelyn and Sierra had moved into an apartment in Jersey City in 1976, and that in mid-December, Evelyn was not feeling well because of her pregnancy and asked her mother to bring her soup. They went to the apartment to deliver the soup and were told that Evelyn and Sierra had recently moved out. The apartment had been emptied.

Migdalia said Sierra was abusive and jealous toward Evelyn and would keep her locked in the apartment at times. Evelyn had told her mother she feared Sierra and that if anything happened to her he was likely involved.

Evelyn was never reported missing by her family, though her siblings recalled a letter that was received in January 1977 that was stamped Stamford, Connecticut.

There was no legible return address, and the letter, written in Spanish, described that Evelyn had the baby and was doing well.

The baby was described as a boy weighing 9 pounds and had been named Luis Sierra Jr. The letter indicated that if Evelyn needed anything, she would contact the family, and also referenced that they planned to call Luis Sierra’s father soon.

Family didn’t believe she wrote the letter.

Suspect

Police obtained a New York driver’s license photo for Sierra, and Evelyn’s siblings identified him as her boyfriend.

On Wednesday, troopers Brian Noll and Brian Janoski interviewed Sierra, now 63, at his residence in Ozone Park, New York.

Sierra initially denied knowing Evelyn, but then admitted to not only knowing her, but that he dated and lived with her and that she was to have his child.

Sierra said they lived in Jersey City together and said he last saw her prior to leaving for work one day and they got into an argument.

He said that when he returned, she was gone, and that he moved out of the apartment to his father’s house soon after.

He said Evelyn had threatened to leave him, so he assumed she went to her mother’s house.

He said that he checked her mother’s house on a few occasions, but they didn’t answer the door.

Sierra initially said that he thought they moved and later corrected himself and said that he knew they did not move because their vehicle was still there.

He said that he and Evelyn had gone to Connecticut on a day trip to look at apartments, and admitted to sending a letter to her family stating they were moving up there.

He could not explain why they would have sent the letter before moving there because they had to come back to New Jersey.

Police explained to him that the letter contained a birth announcement of their son, Luis Sierra Jr.

He confirmed that he would have named the child Luis Jr. However, he could not recall writing that, but acknowledged it was possible.

He has several other sons, none of whom is named Luis.

Sierra is currently in New York awaiting extradition.