Bucks County woman pleads for information in 1975 stabbing death of her sister

LANGHORNE, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- Nearly five decades have passed since the fatal stabbing of a teenage girl in the parking lot of a Bucks County mall.

Now, her sister makes one more plea for information that could finally close her case.

Jeannette Bartlett was only 5 years old when her sister Patty Bartlett was killed.

"I don't remember a whole lot. Glimpses of her taking me places, taking pictures," she recalls.

Jeannette said Patty had taken to photography.

"That was her passion. She got interested in it in high school through a photo science class and she loved it," she said.

On Monday, January 13, 1975, the 17-year-old had just visited The Camera Shop inside the Oxford Valley Mall.

"The people at the photo shop had said that they spoke to her," she said. "She chatted and tried to go to her car and that's when she was attacked."

At 5:30 p.m., Patty was stabbed four times by her car.

She made her way back into the entrance of the store Gimbel's to get help. Medics rushed her to the hospital where she died.

Police say robbery is unlikely since her purse, wallet, and her shopping bag of photo supplies were all recovered at the scene.

"We just want justice and closure and peace at this time," said Jeanette.

The Citizens Crime Commission is administering a $5,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible.

All you have to do is call 215-546-TIPS. All calls will remain anonymous.

For Jeannette and her family, one of their mother's last statements before she died was about seeing Patty again.

"She told the nurse that she was going to see her daughter soon," said Jeanette.