Allegany County cold case: Remembering Odessa Meister
Odessa Meister was 35, a Cumberland woman who rode the city bus each morning to her job at the Celanese plant on McMullen Highway.
Odessa Meister was 35, a Cumberland woman who rode the city bus each morning to her job at the Celanese plant on McMullen Highway.
On Dec. 20, 1952, she went to work as usual. Witnesses said they saw her get into a car near the plant gate that morning. When she did not come home, her husband reported her missing.
In January 1953, two Fort Hill High School students found her on McNamee's Hill, near the end of Leiper Street in Cumberland. Police said she had been killed.
No one has ever been charged. More than 70 years later, the Maryland State Police still list Odessa Meister's death as an open cold case (case 779C).
If you have any information regarding this case, please contact the Maryland State Police Homicide Unit at 410-694-5540. Tips may remain anonymous, and can also be sent to msp.coldcasehomicide@maryland.gov.
Charges are allegations. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
