GALVESTON — Mary Ellen Robinson was raped, beaten, and left for dead on a Galveston, Texas, beach on May 12, 1970. The 23-year-old died three days later from blunt force trauma at John Sealy Hospital.

Robinson, a native of Bellevue, Northern Kentucky, had just completed a blood banking technology program at the University of Texas and planned to begin graduate studies at Ohio State University. On the day of the attack, she told her roommate she intended to visit West Beach to enjoy the sun. Police later found her unconscious and partly unclothed on the sand with severe head injuries. Investigators noted signs of sexual assault but observed no indication of a struggle or footprints at the scene.

At the crime scene, investigators discovered four Coca-Cola bottles, though Robinson typically bought no more than two at a time. A white gold Hamilton wristwatch she wore daily—gifted to her at high school graduation—was missing and never recovered. Investigators considered that one of the bottles or a piece of driftwood might have been used in the assault, but the murder weapon was never found. Several persons of interest were interviewed and given lie detector tests, but no charges were filed. A detective declared the case inactive just over a week after it began, writing, "I have exhausted all means to solve this case."

Physical evidence from the original investigation was later lost to natural disasters, according to Galveston Police Department spokesman Kurt Koopmann. Koopmann said Robinson’s killing is not actively under investigation due to a lack of leads and physical evidence, but new information could reopen the case. Galveston police acknowledged in emails to Robinson’s great-niece, Alycia Randazzo, that the absence of physical evidence remains an obstacle.

Randazzo filed a public records request and received police reports detailing the homicide investigation. She has since requested documents, questioned law enforcement, and shared her great-aunt’s story with Texas reporters. "This is a trauma that everybody in the family has to deal with and it's just kind of been like a big cloud in the room," Randazzo said. She added that her great-aunt’s death was seldom discussed in the family until recently, and "The odds of us solving this are pretty low, but the odds of us remembering this a little bit more are higher."