Name: Rosemary K. Calandriello
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: August 25, 1969
Location Last Seen: Atlantic Highlands, Monmouth County, New Jersey
Date of Birth: June 11, 1952
Age: 17 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 122 lbs.
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
Nickname/Alias: Ro
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Pageboy haircut, bushy, black eyebrows, and thick eyeglasses.
Dentals: Unknown
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Unknown
Clothing: Wearing yellow shorts and a yellow & blue blouse. Brown sandals.
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown
Rosemary Calandriello was last seen on August 25, 1969, around 18.00, as she left her family's Center Avenue residence to go to the store, located only two blocks away. Described as a bookish girl, very shy, Rosemary had just turned 17 and only recently had gone on her first date. She was the youngest of four children, the only one still living at home, and her life pretty much revolved around school, Scouts and her family. Her parents were strict and Rosemary wasn't allowed out at night unless she was chauffeured by her parents. When she hadn't returned later that night, her mother went to the police.
Four high school boys, neighbors and classmates of Rosemary, claimed they had seen her riding through town with a stranger the night of her disappearance. They had spotted Rosemary riding in a beat-up white Ford Galaxy convertible. They didn't recognize the older guy at the wheel. Based on their recollections, a composite sketch of the man and a description of the car, was released to the newspapers.
Two days before Rosemary's disappearance, and at about the same time of day, two young girls had been walking along Center Avenue in Leonardo when a stranger in a white Ford with a black rag top pulled up alongside them. The driver tried three times to pick the girls up, before they ran home and told one of their mothers about the incident. The mother then called the police and reported it. The daughter had memorized the car's license plate and had written it down. When investigators ran the plate number they found the car belonged to Robert Zarinsky.
Robert Zarinsky, a former Linden grocer, was eventually convicted in Rosemary's death. For years after his conviction, Zarinsky insisted he'd never even met the teenager. He eventually admitted killing her "accidentally" by backing over her in his car. But he never told anyone what he did with her body.
Agency Name: Atlantic Highlands Police Department
Agency Contact Person: N/A
Agency Phone Number: 732-291-1212
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: 01756888
NamUs Case Number: MP5909
NamUs
Find a Grave
NJ.com
Added: 9-3-2007; Last Updated: 05/05/2023 - By: kc
Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team
** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.
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