Man Arrested In 1978 Cold Case Killing Of 15-Year-Old Queens Girl

DOUGLASTON, QUEENS — California detectives have arrested a Colorado man in connection with a decades-old cold case involving the killing of a teen from Douglaston, Queens.

Deputies arrested Mark Stanley Personette, 76, of Conifer, Colorado on Thursday on suspicion of homicide in the death of Marissa Rolf Harvey. Her body was found in Sutro Heights Park on March 28, 1978.

Personette was taken into custody after a joint operation by the San Francisco police department’s homicide detail, the San Francisco district attorney’s office, FBI and Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.

According to the San Francisco Police Department, in 1978, Marissa traveled from New York City to San Francisco to visit family. She went to Golden Gate Park on March 27 but never returned, police said.

Her body was found in nearby Sutro Heights Park the following day.

The New York Times reported shortly after the killing that Harvey had lived on Park Lane in Douglaston. At the time, she was a student at St. Dominick's School in Oyster Bay, Long Island.

In October 2020, the San Francisco Police Department’s homicide cold-case unit reopened Harvey's 1978 murder investigation, using advanced investigative methods employed by its Forensic Sciences Division.

“For more than four decades, Marissa Harvey’s family members have been relentless advocates to bring her killer to justice, and we hope this development in the case begins to bring a measure of healing and closure they’ve been too long denied,” said Chief of Police Bill Scott.

“To the families and friends of all victims awaiting justice for crimes committed in our city, we hope this case sends an unequivocal message that you are never forgotten by the San Francisco Police Department — and that our cold-case investigators continue their tireless work on your loved ones’ behalf," Scott continued. "We’re grateful to our law enforcement partners for working with us on this case, and we’re equally thankful to the many forensic scientists and other unsung heroes who helped to solve this case and to make SFPD’s Crime Laboratory among a small handful nationwide to be recognized for employing our profession’s most rigorous forensic standards.”

San Francisco police are asking law enforcement agencies to review their sexual-assault related cold-case homicides involving young women to possibly identify any other cases in which Personette may be a suspect. They released several booking photos of Personette over the years, including this one below:

This Nov. 5, 1979, image provided by the San Francisco Police Department shows the Hopewell Township, N.J., Police Department booking photos of Mark Stanley Personette.

Anyone with information or leads in the case is asked to call Sgt. Alan Levy, Star #4216, of the San Francisco Police Department's homicide detail at 415-553-9245 or by email at alan.levy@sfgov.org.