After Finishing Work One Night In 1998, She Boarded A Bus To Her College Campus But Never Made It Back To Her Dorm Room
In 1998, Suzanne Lyall – a sophomore at the State University of New York (SUNY) Albany – left work and boarded a bus back to campus.
But, after she exited the bus at about 9:25 p.m. to walk back to her dorm room, she was never seen or heard from again.
Suzanne was born in Saratoga Springs and grew up with her parents and two siblings in Ballston Spa, New York. As a young girl, she adored writing poetry and sewing.
Yet, according to her mother, Mary Lyall, Suzanne’s greatest interest was computers. Her passion for technology was ignited at the age of 10 when her father purchased a Commodore computer.
“Nobody knew what a computer was, basically. And the Commodores back then, all they did was add and subtract – and really slowly at that. But she was really curious about the computer,” Mary recalled.
“By the time she was 12-years-old, she was taking the computer apart and rebuilding it. She was very fascinated by the act that she could dial up all these local bulletin boards and talk to other people over the computer.”
Suzanne’s interests never dwindled, either, so once it was time for her to head off to college, she enrolled at SUNY Oneonta in 1996 with plans to study computer science.
However, she came to realize the computer science program at the school simply was not developed enough yet.
“The teachers were just basically starting to learn a little bit about computers – Suzy had already graduated past what they had learned,” Mary explained.
New York State Police – pictured above is Suzanne
So, in 1997, 19-year-old Suzanne transferred to the University at Albany.
At the time, she had a boyfriend named Richard, whom she’d begun dating back in high school. He also attended a college in the Albany area; meanwhile, she lived in a dorm located in the Colonial Quad.
In addition to her studies as a sophomore, Suzanne took a part-time job working at a computer software store located in the Crossgates Mall.
Yet, after traveling home from a routine shift at work on March 2, 1998, she vanished.
The day before, March 1, Suzanne reportedly spoke to her mother and wished her a happy birthday. She also apologized for not traveling home to celebrate and claimed she wanted to prioritize her midterm exams.
Then, on March 2, Suzanne completed a midterm exam in the morning before attending the rest of her classes that day until about 4:00 p.m. At that point, she traveled to the Crossgates Mall for work.
The computer software store closed at 9:00 p.m. that night, and Suzanne left to head back to her dorm. She got on a bus at the Capital District Transportation Authority to travel back to campus.
A witness at the Collins Circle bus stop claimed to have seen Suzanne exit the bus at about 9:25 p.m. and begin heading toward her dorm, which was just about 900 or 950 feet away.
Nonetheless, Suzanne never arrived back at her dorm room and has been missing ever since.
The next morning, March 3, 1998, Suzanne’s boyfriend reportedly called her parents and told them that she never made it back the night before. This prompted Suzanne’s father, Doug, to race to campus.
Upon entering her daughter’s dorm room, Mary claimed that nothing looked out of place. Suzanne’s hairdryer was lying on her bed, and her glasses were still in the dorm.
Mary and Doug also reported Suzanne missing to campus police but were reportedly told that it wasn’t uncommon for college students to have brief absences.
Once state police launched an investigation, over 400 acres were searched – including campus, local bike paths, and the Crossgates Mall.
Authorities also found that at about 4:00 p.m. the day after she went missing, Suzanne’s debit card was used at an ATM for a withdrawal of $20. The ATM was located at a Stewart’s Shops convenience store, but investigators were not able to ascertain who made the withdrawal as surveillance cameras did not cover the area.
As of 2023, authorities with the New York State Police would not disclose whether anyone – including Suzanne’s boyfriend – had been ruled out as a suspect.
“Multiple interviews have been conducted. Given the status of the investigation, NYSP will not disclose who has or has not been ruled out as people of interest in this investigation,” a spokesperson stated.
But, just a few months after Suzanne went missing, her parents felt as though the case had gone cold and began doing everything they could to search for answers to their daughter’s disappearance.
“My husband and I tried to do everything we could think of to find our daughter,” Mary said.
Eventually, in 2001, Mary and Doug founded the Center for Hope, a nonprofit organization providing resources to the families of missing people.
Additionally, they began lobbying for legislative changes, and in 2003, “Suzanne’s Law” was signed by former President George W. Bush. The law prevents police from imposing a “waiting period” before missing person reports are accepted for individuals between 18 and 21-years-old.
“When a child goes missing, they automatically go into the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and get a lot of services. But if you just turned 18, there’s nothing; there’s a gray area. We just decided that we have to raise this age,” Mary explained.
Still, despite all of her loved ones’ efforts, Suzanne’s case remains unsolved over 26 years later.
In 2015, her father passed away. Her mother, Mary, has lived in the same home where she raised her children for over 50 years.
Despite over two decades passing since Suzanne went missing, Mary claimed that she has never lost hope.
“Every time we went on a conference, everywhere we went, I’d be sitting in that airport looking at every single face, wondering if the next one that’s gonna walk up is her,” Mary said.
“I’m still hoping.”
At the time she vanished, Suzanne was five foot three, weighed between 165 and 175 pounds, and had light brown hair and blue eyes.
If you have any information regarding her case, you are urged to contact the New York State Police.
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