She Said She'd Be Right Back: Sharon Thor

Fifteen‑year‑old Sharon Thor left her Franklin Township, New Jersey home on October 26, 1982 after receiving a phone call from someone she seemed to know. She told her mother she’d be right back, climbed into a car with two men, and vanished. Three days later, her body was found in a wooded area near her home. Sharon had been beaten to death, suffering severe blunt‑force trauma to her head and ribs, and the circumstances suggested a possible sexual assault.

Sharon was a dedicated ballet student, just days away from her 16th birthday, and her murder remains unsolved more than four decades later. Her family continues to seek answers and hopes someone will finally come forward with the truth. 

Instagram/Facebook: dead_seriouspod

 APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1896929129

 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0QcspQIAcBaK2ZsoSzwYnE?si=2D6M514USTaYKXsJ8TKASw

Edited by: Wojciech, B

 Covert art: @curlyinkstudio (Instagram)

At Dead Serious, I strive to tell stories truthfully. Press media and other resources can not always be verified.

 Case Sources:

https://www.nbcnews.com/dateline/cold-case-spotlight/franklin-township-new-jersey-cold-case-sharon-thor-rcna22801377.

https://projectcoldcase.org/2024/10/07/sharon-thor/

https://somersetprosnj.gov/resource-page/135

https://www.villagerstheatre.org/viewproductions/remembering-sharon/

https://www.pomc.org/online-support/catch-a-killer/sharon-thor/

https://storiesoftheunsolved.com/2024/01/14/sharon-thor/

 Instagram & Facebook: dead_seriouspod

 APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1896929129

 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0QcspQIAcBaK2ZsoSzwYnE?si=2D6M514USTaYKXsJ8TKASw

 Edited by: Wojciech, B

 Covert art: @curlyinkstudio (Instagram)

At Dead Serious, I strive to tell stories truthfully. Press media and other resources can not always be verified.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Welcome to Dead Serious, a true crime podcast. I'm your host, Ames Marie. This podcast contains mature themes. Your discretion is advised. Hey guys, and welcome back to Dead Serious. I'm your host, Ames Marie. How is everyone doing so far this week? Hopefully you're chugging along and looking forward to your weekend or maybe even a vacation because that's what I'm doing. Heads up, there will be no episode next week as I will be on a much needed vacation. Very excited. Before we start today's episode, I do need to do a quick correction on my like seriously mini sode about the maternal instinct documentary. I mentioned the baby would grow up without a mother, but that was incorrect as the baby unfortunately did not make it. Just wanted to clarify that. Had a little faux pas. Now, today's story is about the disappearance and murder of 15-year-old Sharon Thor, the girl who said she'd be right back. This one is a cold case and not one that I had really heard of, but not a quiet one. It's one of those cases that sits under your skin, a case that has stayed open for more than four decades and one that investigators quietly revisited as recently as 2023. Sharon Marie Thor was born on October 28th, 1966 in Elizabeth, New Jersey to Frank Thor Sr. and Sonia Thor. She was one of five children and the only girl. Her brothers were Noel, Frank Jr., Steven, and Chris. Her mother, Sonia, was born in Cuba, but her parents and grandparents were from Spain. Sonia came to the U.S. at 17 with her godmother's family and lived in New York before arriving to Elizabeth, New Jersey. She ended up working at a toy factory and later a machine shop where she met her husband, Frank, who was the co-owner. She was 19 and he was 21. They married quickly. Sonia got pregnant and they moved to Roselle, New Jersey, where her in-laws were for nine years, and then to Somerset County. Sharon and her brothers attended parochial school, then went to public school once they relocated to Franklin Township. At around four to five years old, Sharon became interested in dance, but there was a problem. Her feet were turned inward. Doctors advised for her to wear bar on her legs at night, which she did for about six months to help turn them outward. It worked, and Sharon became an accomplished dancer, having been in lessons since preschool for ballet, tap, and jazz at Neva Crimin School of Dance in Baumbrook, New Jersey. She even dreamed of having her own studio someday. At the time of her murder, Sharon was a 15-year-old girl who was responsible, artistic, and deeply loved. She took her ballet lessons every week. She didn't skip them, she didn't disappear, she didn't run off, she wasn't a troubled kid. She was just a normal teenager in a normal New Jersey suburb, and she left the house in a way that didn't set off any alarm bells. She wasn't sneaking out, she wasn't hiding anything. On October 26, 1982, late afternoon, Sharon was set to leave for a dance class at 5.45 with her mother. Sharon was wearing blue jeans, sneakers, a gold necklace with a charm, and a red striped sweater. At around 5:30 p.m., the phone rang. Sharon was watching TV while her father was relaxing in the living room and her mother was in her bedroom. Sharon answered the call and it seemed as though it was for her as she stretched the cord as far as it could go for privacy. Again, this is 1982, so a little rant, you know, this is time when phones other than the ones plugged into your wall with a huge long curly cord. You guys know what I'm talking about. They could extend from the kitchen all the way to your bedroom. Did not exist. There was no other form of communication other than that one singular phone in the kitchen. And if someone were to be on that phone prior to call waiting, you weren't even getting through. No social media, no texting, no nothing. Tracking someone down was no easy feat. You had to hope that when you did call, someone was there to answer. Because if not, there was nowhere to leave a message so the person even knew you called. You had to go out, walk in your neighborhood, knock on doors, drive to friends' homes, places where you knew this person hung out. This was also at a time when missing persons, regardless of age, could not be reported immediately. After Sharon hung up, she told her mother she would be back shortly and she rushed out of the house. Sharon left without a coat, her purse, or her hairbrush. All things that she would never just leave behind for good. Sharon's mother expected her home within minutes, and when she didn't return, the worry started immediately. She wasn't the kind of kid who vanished. She wasn't the kind of kid who blew off ballet. All that's gone on at this point, really, is Sharon answered a phone call. She sounded pleased. She told her mother she'd be right back. That's kind of the detail that freaks me out because it's such an ordinary one. Like, it's the kind of thing any of us said a thousand times at 15. Sharon's parents, Sonia and Frank, went to the Franklin Township Police Department to report her missing. Since this was in the 80s, protocol at the time was you had to wait 24 hours to report someone missing. Didn't matter their age. Her parents knew there was no way they were going to sit around and do nothing for 24 hours. So they decided to do their own search. They drove to the dance school, their neighborhood McDonald's, the stores on Easton Avenue, and other local places that Sharon was known to frequent. At one point, Sonia went so far as to take the family's German Shepherd to the nearby woods. There was no signs of Sharon. Sharon's eldest sibling at the time was Noel, 21, and her youngest brother was Chris, who's 10. Her brothers went and knocked on doors and spoke to a man that they believed at the time was or knew who was responsible. Noel Torado, Sharon's older brother, said, it was probably something we shouldn't have done, but we were young and upset. You know how rumors started flying around. We had no idea who did it. Stephen Thor, Sharon's second oldest brother, commented on the difficulties they faced searching for Sharon at the time. He explained, we didn't have contacts. We didn't have phones, you know, no Google, no nothing. You went by word of mouth and you know, whoever you talked to, he said. Sharon was missing for three days. Three days of searching, questioning neighbors, canvassing the area, checking every possible lead. Sharon never came home. Three days later, her body was found in a wooded area roughly a quarter mile from her home. Close enough that she could have walked it, close enough that her killer didn't bother to take her far, which suggests familiarity or comfort, or panic. She had been beaten brutally with a two by four and a cinder block. Her ribs were broken, her skull was fractured, her clothing was disturbed. The brutality of the attack told investigators one thing. This wasn't an accident, this wasn't a panic, this was rage. She died within an hour of leaving home. Now there was a neighbor who held an important eyewitness detail. He saw Sharon walk towards a car and get in willingly. There were two dark-haired men in the vehicle, and that was the last time anyone saw Sharon alive. Thing is, this neighbor was only eight years old. Now, this is the part of the case that feels like a ghost story, not because it's supernatural, but because it's unfinished. Two men seen by a child, a phone call no one could trace, a car no one could identify. It's like the case is missing its first chapter, and without that chapter, everything else becomes guesswork. The crime scene, the wooded area, didn't give investigators much. No fingerprints, no usable DNA, no weapon left behind, no tire trucks that led anywhere. Investigators chased every lead. Local men, acquaintances, anyone who might have known her, but nothing stuck. No one was arrested, no one was charged. And in 1982, DNA just wasn't a tool yet. If this case happened today, we'd have touch DNA, digital forensics, cell phone tower pings, surveillance footage. In 1982, investigators had shoe leather and witness statements. Within the next three months, people including family, friends, and persons of interest were interviewed. Over a dozen detectives from Somerset County Prosecutor's Office and the Franklin Township Police Department were assigned to the case. There were a number of individuals identified as possibly being involved, but they never were able to confirm a strong suspect or suspects. Sonia stated many of the parents at Franklin High School did not want the police speaking to their children. She also believes the person or persons responsible knew the area given where her body was found. Although that area was owned by a utility company and had no trespassing signage on the property, there were no fences to keep anyone out. It was a known hangout for local teens used to party, ride dirt bikes, and socialize. Sharon may have been the only girl amongst four brothers, but she was tough. So her mother believed that if there had been only one assailant, Sharon might have had a chance. With having literally no evidence, the case went cold. The prosecution wanted to obtain DNA from a potential suspect, says defense lawyer Sharon Ransavage, who represents this person, and declined any further comments. In 2022, the Summer County Prosecutor's Office reiterated that the case was in the hands of the major crimes unit. Then in August of 2023, lifelong resident and local business owner Frank Resta decided he wanted to help keep this case at the forefront. He had just attended a community police academy class at Franklin Township Police Department, where he learned this case was the longest unsolved murder in Somerset County. Resta also attended the same high school as Thor, but did not know her. Afterwards, he started a fund with $500 in it and later a Facebook video circulated, adding another $1,700. After seeing the video, Marie Fiorello, another local resident, thought of Nick Polino Jr., who was a neighbor of Sharon's at the time of her death. He had created a script called Remembering Sharon. Fiorello was working at the Villagers Theater in 1996 when Polino was about to be the theater's managing director. Fiorello mentioned Polino tried to do some investigating of his own in 2003 by talking to the police, but they had run into roadblocks when it came to DNA. So to relieve his frustration, he wrote a play. Polino unfortunately died from a brain tumor in 2014, but prior to his passing, he asked Fiorelli that if they ever did one of his shows to please do Remembering Sharon. Fiorello met with Frank Resta and gave him a copy, and they both decided to do the play. A stage reading of Remembering Sharon was performed by 10 actors, including Frank Resta and directed by Marie Fiorello. Tickets cost $25 with half of sales to be held in a fund for Sharon for up to five years. Donations were also accepted into this fund. And if after five years the case was not solved, the funds would go to parents of murdered children, an Ohio-based national organization. Sharon's niece Sam, who never got to meet her aunt Sharon, was unhappy with the investigation. Now, I was unable to determine which of Sharon's brother that Sam was the daughter of, but Sam launched a change.org petition asking more to be done to solve her aunt's murder. Sam recently gave an interview with Dateline, sharing how she came to know her aunt, how it shaped her life. Memories of her aunt Sharon were regularly slipped into conversations growing up, her family reminiscing of the times they shared. At 17, Sam shared how she took her first forensic science class in high school. And during that time, her curiosity about her aunt's case inspired her to create a 22-page slide for her independent project to present to her forensics class. It detailed Sharon's life up until her murder and what became an unsolved case. Sam really wants to bring closure for her grandmother and family. Unfortunately, Sharon's father Nick passed away in 2007 while her mother Sonia is still alive and is in her late 80s, early 90s. She hopes to be around when this person or persons is caught. Cold cases like this often get described as mysterious. But that's not quite right. They're just incomplete. There are stories with missing pages, pages that someone out there still has. And in Sharon's case, those missing pages include the identity of the caller, the identity of the men in the car, and the reason she trusted them enough to even get in. In March of 2023, Sonia, with the help of Sam, signed papers to allow for Sharon's remains to be exhumed, to be tested for DNA. 41 years after Sharon's murder, investigators quietly exhumed her remains. They didn't announce it, they didn't explain it, but they confirmed it. Why exhume a victim decades later? Because technology changes. Because evidence that meant nothing in 1982 might mean everything today. Because someone out there knows something. And maybe, finally, they talked. Or maybe they're preparing for genealogical testing. Exactly. We don't know. But exhumations don't happen for no reason. They happen when a case moves. Sharon's case is still open, still unsolved, still active. Somerset County keeps her on their cold case list. They still ask for tips. They still investigate leads. And for 40 plus years, Somerset County has been trying to answer one question. Who called her? Who picked her up? Who killed her? And that's where we'll leave it. Not with closure, but with possibility. Someone knows who called her. Someone knows who picked her up. Someone knows who killed her. And after 40 plus years, it's time for them to say it out loud. If you have any information regarding the murder of Sharon Thor, please contact the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office at 908-231-7100. Tips can also be submitted anonymously via Crime Stoppers of Somerset County at 1-888-577-8477. As always, you can find me on socials at dead underscore serious plods. Please like and share, as this really helps me reach more listeners. Thanks so much for the support. Until next time, stay sharp, stay safe, and stay serious.