Who Killed Hazel Drew?

Hazel Drew was a pretty, twenty year old servant girl whose body was discovered in a pond on a remote mountain top in Sand Lake, New York in 1908. For nearly three weeks detectives conducted a rigorous investigation in their attempt to find her killer. They discovered that Hazel's life was anything but normal. The media descended on the small town. Public interest was ignited and for over one hundred years people have tried to figure out, "Who Killed Hazel Drew?"

On July 6, 1908, pretty and popular Hazel Drew abruptly quit her job as a domestic servant; a job she loved and with a family that greatly respected and admired her. Five days later her body was discovered in a pond fifteen miles away. An autopsy was performed. An investigation began. For two weeks, detectives discovered one baffling clue after another. They learned that Hazel was not the person everyone knew her to be. "Who Killed Hazel Drew?" chronicles the nearly three week investigation in upstate New York and examines the clues that left detectives and the media frustrated. They examined, among other things: A best friend that left town the same day Hazel quit her job A family that did't fully cooperate with the investigation and was possibly concealing a closely guarded secret An eccentric uncle and a controlling aunt A missing purse Unexplained trips to big cities Mysterious letters destined to be destroyed An unidentified couple seen on a train A secret romance and engagement Using primary sources and applying modern profiling techniques, "Who Killed Hazel Drew?" re-examines the century old murder and gives readers the opportunity to decide for themselves what really happened on that desolate mountain in 1908.

Ron Hughes is a native of Troy, New York and attended the Troy public schools. He received his Bachelor's Degree from SUNY Cortland and his Master's Degree from SUNY New Paltz. He has been a teacher for thirty one years. He lives in the Hudson Valley, is married and has two grown sons.