Cold Case: State police looking for information to help them solve 1977 murder of local nurse

SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Pennsylvania State Police in Uniontown are looking to solve a cold case that happened in 1977.

According to state police, Elizabeth “Betty Jane” Berquist was a nurse at what is now UPMC McKeesport and went missing on Dec. 17, 1977. Her remains were later found in a rural part of Springfield Township in Fayette County.

State police said Berquist worked a shift at that hospital that day and stopped briefly at her parents’ house in Springfield Township to leave her 2-year-old daughter with them for the night.

She left still wearing her nurse uniform. She went home to change clothes and go out for the evening.

Berquist disappeared that night, state police said. The next sign of her came from a human skull that was found in a yard in a remote part of Fayette County known as Hawkins Hollow on April 15, 1978. It was the only part of her remains that was recovered.

State police said her disappearance was immediately treated as a homicide and her boyfriend was the main suspect.

Any persons with information regarding this incident are asked to contact the PSP Uniontown Station at 724-929-6262 and speak to Trooper Kristen Zelechowski or you can contact the Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers if you have information on this crime, any serious crime, or wanted person, call the Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers Toll Free at 1-800-4PA-TIPS (8477) or online at https://www.p3tips.com/tipform.aspx?ID=107. Calls can remain anonymous and could be eligible for a cash reward of $5,000.

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