There is a memorial along the bike path that I have been wondering about for a long time. This is what it looked like last year. I tried finding out what had happened but didn't have enough information. It is on Niagara and Forrest.



Just recently these pictures were put up with the name Valerie A. Soos 9/30/53 to 11/3/96.









So I searched and searched to find out what happened and eventually paid $6 for these archived Buffalo News articles.

News Library

HOME FILLED WITH TROPHIES IS MONUMENT TO SLAIN MOTHER'S DEVOTION TO HER CHILDREN

Published on November 6, 1996
Author: LOU MICHEL - News Staff Reporter
� The Buffalo News Inc.

Valerie Soos helped her two daughters dance their way to the top in studio competitions.
The Soos family home on Riverside Avenue is filled with trophies that now stand as monuments to the 43-year-old mother's devotion to her children, Angela, 8, and Tamara, 15, family and friends said Tuesday. Few details have been made public on how the Riverside woman met a violent end this past weekend. Homicide investigators Tuesday continued searching for suspects.
What is known is that Mrs. Soos left her home for the last time around midnight Saturday to purchase food items from an area supermarket for Sunday breakfast, acquaintances and relatives said in interviews.
When her husband, Andy Soos, awoke later that morning and discovered his wife was not home, he called her sister, Vanessa J. Bichler, at about 8:30 a.m., seeking assistance, the sister said.
Mrs. Bichler, of Grand Island, picked up their brother, James Riexinger, from his home in Riverside, and headed to their brother-in-law's home and together they filed a missing person's report with Hertel Station police.
As word spread that the well-liked woman had disappeared, a search party was formed and area neighborhoods were scoured. At about 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Mrs. Soos' station wagon was located behind a Niagara Street bar.
"The car was found by the dance teacher from the dance studio where Valerie 's daughter Angela took dance lessons. Valerie was close friends with the teacher and would help her out answering phones at night at the studio," Mrs. Bichler said.
The dance teacher, who had called Mrs. Bichler at Mrs. Soos' home to alert her she had found the car, also contacted police to say the vehicle had been located, the sister said.
"When my brother Jim and I went to where the car was, we were told no one should go near the car until police arrived.
"I didn't think Valerie was in the car. I just thought someone stole her car," Mrs. Bichler said.
That assumption would soon change.
Police inspected the station wagon and found Mrs. Soos' naked body in it. Upon further investigation, it was discovered that her ring finger had been severed, according to police sources.
But, Capt. Joseph Riga, chief of the Homicide Bureau, refused to discuss any details of the case Tuesday, for fear it might hamper the arrest of those responsible.
"My sister called herself a big welcome mat. She was a good person and there was nothing she wouldn't do for anyone," said Mrs. Bichler, who with Mrs. Soos worked together cleaning homes.
The lack of information on the slaying, including Mrs. Soos' cause of death, weighs heavily on family members, according to relatives and friends.
"No one wants to go on and not know what happened. That's what's killing us," Mrs. Bichler said.
A funeral is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. today in James E. Grace Funer








RING FINGER CUT OFF BODY OF SLAIN WOMAN

Published on November 5, 1996
� The Buffalo News Inc.
The ring finger was cut off the body of a woman found dead behind a Niagara Street bar, police sources said Monday.
That mutilation apparently occurred after the death of Valerie Soos, 43, of Riverside Avenue, sources said, citing the lack of blood flow from the wound. Mrs. Soos' body was found Sunday afternoon in her car behind Campbell's Pub at 1591 Niagara St. An autopsy was performed Monday by the Erie County medical examiner's office. Homicide Bureau officials declined to comment on the results.
Andrew Soos had reported his wife missing approximately 14 hours before her body was found. He had given police a detailed description of her clothing and the car and noted that she may have been carrying several hundred dollars.
Police sources said the body was entirely nude when it was discovered at about 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
The victim's husband has been questioned by police, as is customary, and the couple's home was searched. The couple has two daughters, ages 8 and 15, according to a neighbor.


AUTOPSY PLANNED ON WOMAN FOUND IN CAR

Published on November 4, 1996
� The Buffalo News Inc.
Homicide detectives say an autopsy conducted today should determine the cause of death of a Riverside woman whose body was found Sunday in her car behind a Niagara Street bar.
The body of Valerie Soos, 43, of 29 Riverside Ave. was discovered at about 2:30 p.m. outside Campbell's Pub at 1591 Niagara St., on the corner of Forest Avenue. Patrons on Sunday said she wasn't a regular at the bar, and her neighbors remembered her as a devoted housewife who often was seen working in the yard.
"It's such a terrible thing," said a friend, Jan Nimo, who lives at 23 Riverside. "I can't get over it -- seeing a person one day and the next day they're gone. It's devastating."
Ms. Nimo said Mrs. Soos and her husband, Andrew, have two daughters, ages 8 and 15.
Detectives spent several hours at the Soos home and emerged with a garbage bag of items, which they took to Police
Headquarters. They also searched a van parked outside the house.
Today, investigators returned to the scene in search of more evidence, police officials said.

This is where her body was found and where I was taking the pictures. Campbell's Pub whose parking lot is where the body was found inside her own car has since closed.



This is the map of where she lives in comparison to where her body was found.



I'm pretty sure the murder is unsolved. The Buffalo News archive had a small article about unsolved murders a year later and this case was included.

How sad for this family. I hope that the case will be solved for their sake. The daughters should be like 21 and 28 now.

A neighbor of mine has encouraged me to take my rabbit waste to their yard for composting. I have my own pile now just for his litter, hay and droppings. Supposed to be great fertilizer. I'm really excited about this as his waste was the majority of the trash. I would almost fill a 30 gallon trash bag up every week. Hopefully it will decompose quickly. His litter is reclaimed celulose which is biodegradable.

I would like to do my kitchen scraps but I think I'm just going to stick with his litter for now. I don't want to attract bugs or rodents as people live close together.

It has been 2.5 months since I last posted about my fitness. I think I see some results.

This is my lamb of god statue that was left behind by the bishop who owned my old house on Lexington. I rescued him as he would have been thrown away.



Red-winged blackbird at the foot of Ferry. (e:mike) and I went the other day for a walk on the pier.



Heron



This is the tree in front of my house. It sucks the flowers don't stay on for long because they really make the tree.



Forrest Lawn Cemetery.



(e:terry) driving us around.



It was fun to capture (e:matthew) taking some of his beautiful photographs as seen on his journal here.






Nasty old goose.

















This is where he is taking my favorite picture from his photo shoot.

Increasingly, Florida is having major problems with sink holes. These are mainly caused because so much water is being taken out of the water tables. They say it is kind of like winning the lottery, particularly in current markets, because the insurance companies pay out so much money for them.

This just recently happened a few miles north of my mother in Spring Hill Florida.

On Monday I took a half day at work and went straight from Roswell to South Buffalo and Lackawana. I felt so free and wonderful to get out of work on such a beautiful day and just go wherever I wanted. I think I'll skip most of the commentary but I stopped at Erie County Botanical Gardens, the Basilica, Tift Nature Preserve, Times Beach Nature Preserve and unfortunately the US Coast Guard. That is when I realized I no longer could get to downtown and had to back track to Ohio street at which time I was able to get a friend to pick me up at the General Mills factory. I'm not sure how many miles I went that day but I definitely covered a lot of ground and saw quite a lot of Buffalo. You see so much more when you are on a bike compared to being in a car. There were times actually that the wildlife was just a bit too close. A couple of times I went running from the deer and the geese. If wild animals start to approach me I always get freaked out. Maybe they just wanted some food or maybe they wanted to hoove or peck me to death...you never know.






















































Does anyone know what this building is? It is near the Water Authority.

I am really sad about Bea Arthur passing. It is so strange because as viewers we look at the Golden Girls as always being in their golden years. Rue McClanahan was in a series recently but I didn't know anything about Bea so I didn't even know she was sick.


When I was younger I wasn't allowed to watch the Golden Girls. I did anyways. I remember watching them once in the reflection of something so that my parents wouldn't see me watching the TV.







photo by Alan Light

For weeks I have been hearing the faint sound of a radio playing and it was starting to drive me crazy. Now I realize that the sound is coming from my computer speakers. I hear ads and sometimes music and turning the volume off doesn't make it stop.

What is wrong with them are they possessed?

Almost forgot to mention to listen to my user sound. Micachu Lips, We Have Band) remix.

So I tried to write this before I downloaded Lazarus like (e:tinypliny) suggested. I naviagated away from the page and I lost everything I wrote. Now that should never happen with the special little add on for Firefox.

Back to the point. Buffalo was recently listed by Forbes as being number five of top cities within the US where it is hardest to get by. My first feeling was of pride that I am able to make it in the fifth hardest place to get by. My next thought was about number 4, Tampa, who not too long ago experienced tremendous growth and prosperity and has now completely bottomed out. Finally, I thought, WOW! we have tremendous stability and resilience here.

Buffalo is number 6 on top downsized US cities according to Forbes. This is clearly no surprise- as we all know how much of Buffalo is boarded up. They say positively about Buffalo:

Buffalo, for example, saw a 0.8% increase in housing value over the last year. Sure, the median home price is just $106,200, but home values have decreased by 30% in some parts of the country over that same period...

"When I moved to Buffalo, I carried the same misconceptions that most do. What I found was jaw dropping" she says of the city's architecture and cultural offerings. "Efforts to market the region are so important."....

We certainly do have a lot to market. Buffalo is a great city and I think it will remain to be long into the future.