55 Years Ago, She Was Found Murdered In A Ditch, And A 77-Year-Old Man Was Just Arrested
Mary Kay Heese, a 17-year-old from Nebraska, was a junior at Wahoo High School when, on March 25, 1969, she met a tragic fate.
That day, she enjoyed a hot chocolate at a cafe in the city following track practice. Then, she was last seen by a teacher as she walked alone “up a tree-lined street near 12th and Linden streets in Wahoo, about six blocks from her family’s home.”
Her family reported her missing that evening after she didn’t return home, and just after midnight on March 26, 1969, her body was discovered in a ditch on the side of the road located south of Wahoo.
Mary Kay’s case then went unsolved for 55 years. That was until the United States Marshals Service recently arrested a 77-year-old man named Joseph A. Ambroz in Ponca City, Oklahoma, on November 18. He has been charged with first-degree murder.
“The warrant for Mr. Ambroz’s arrest was issued last week after a Saunders County, Nebraska Grand Jury indicted Mr. Ambroz for the March 25, 1969 murder of 17-year-old Mary Kay Heese,” according to a press release shared on Facebook by the Saunders County Sheriff’s Office.
The latest arrest comes after Mary Kay’s cousin, Kathy Tull, has spent years pursuing justice and making sure the case was never forgotten.
“I kept calling and calling and calling, wanting to know where the case was and if we had any new evidence. Then we put the tip line up, and when we did that, it seemed like things kind of took off,” Kathy recalled.
According to Ted Green, an investigator with Saunders County, that tip line led authorities to indict and arrest Joseph Ambroz.
Kathy stated that Joseph allegedly “brutally” murdered Mary Kay and threw her in a ditch before driving away. He is reportedly accused of stabbing the teenager to death.
Facebook – pictured above is Mary Kay
Police have previously stated that Mary Kay likely got out of her attacker’s car and attempted to run. Footprints discovered suggested that someone had caught up with her, and evidence indicated Mary Kay had fought back.
“I still don’t understand how she got in the car because that wasn’t Mary Kay’s personality,” Kathy said.
Mary Kay’s body was exhumed last month, and a new autopsy report was conducted. Technology has advanced since her murder over five decades ago, but the process was still extremely difficult for Kathy.
“I cried, cried, cried. I was hoping I was doing the right thing, disrupting her. But we were at a point where, if that was the only option, we needed to do it,” she admitted.
Investigators were looking for a necklace that Mary Kay always wore and came up flat. Kathy, on the other hand, located the piece of jewelry in a box of mementos that was handed down to her after her Aunt Dorothy passed away.
“I think she was wearing it that night, and I think the mortuary probably released this to Aunt Dorothy afterward, or somebody did because her name is written on the bag,” Kathy detailed.
Additionally, she uncovered a letter penned by Mary Kay four months before she was killed. And her tip line sparked a new lead, suggesting a car may be at the bottom of a pond in rural Nebraska.
Search technology has detected something down there, but there’s a possibility that it’s too deteriorated. Regardless, Kathy’s persistence has undoubtedly helped move the investigation into Mary Kay’s murder forward.
Joseph Ambroz was behind bars for forgery and escape during the late 1960s before he moved to his mother’s home in Wahoo. Shortly after Mary Kay’s death, he reportedly violated parole and went back to prison.
Leading up to his most recent arrest, Joseph reportedly moved around often, with over 24 addresses in 9 different states. And over the years, authorities have looked into approximately 700 people throughout their investigation.
“Mr. Ambrox will appear in court in Oklahoma within the next couple of days to start the proceedings and extradite him back to Nebraska,” the Saunders County Sheriff’s Office press release stated.
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