Fifty years ago, the scene on Ewing near Vestal was not so lovely, as Larry Harnisch -- formerly of the magnificent 1947project -- reports in the Daily Mirror. Discovery: The body of a young woman, a mother, with track marks on her arms and a tattoo that read "spider" in Spanish (sans tilde).

This is her. On her back, with her shoes under her arm. Here's the tire prints. Somebody pulled up, lifted her out of the car and dragged her next to a hedge near 1812 Ewing St. She was flashy, all dressed up in red. Red pedal pushers and a red bolero top. Maybe nobody ever told her not to to wear white shoes after Labor Day.

Harnisch wonders about the woman's children today. I have to admit I felt squeamish thinking about them, while reading a stylized account of the discovery of their mother's corpse. But there's also the chance they'd appreciate that someone "remembered" after all this time. Today I think there are houses where Carol Ann Berutko, 22, was found. And I have heard that back in the '50s there were fewer trees. Most of the houses we see now were already built, though not all the roads in Elysian Heights had been paved. Ewing is pretty steep in most of its segments. Berutko's Ewing is particularly sheer -- you have to walk slowly, leaning back a little so as not to pitch forward. I strolled my daughter down that side of the hill one time, and one time only.

Many thanks to filmmaker (and friend) Joe D'Augustine for sending me the link!