Colonie teen to be remembered 54 years after murder

COLONIE, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- It has been 54 years since a Colonie teenager was kidnapped and killed on her walk home from the library in 1970. Now, the village is planning a memorial to continue her legacy.

Sheila Allen was known by family and friends as a sweet and smart girl. She was taken only two days before her 17th birthday, on Oct. 21, 1970, according to her brother Dave Allen.

“She was a really good big sister," Dave said. "Her life was cut short, she had so many dreams."

Dave was only 14 years old when his sister was killed, but he remembers the day as if it was yesterday.

"It feels almost closer than ever, her disappearance and wondering what would she be like today at 71," said Dave. "It was a dark, rainy night and we only had one car and my dad needed the car for something, so he normally would’ve picked Sheila up,"

Instead Sheila took the bus home -- the trip was only about a mile and a half. When she got off the bus on Rapple Drive, she had to walk past a wooded lot, which has now been replaced by a multi-story business building. As she walked by the lot, a car with two men pulled up next to her and kidnapped her.

Sheila was only a few hundred feet away from her home when she was dragged into the car. The two men, Charles Oechler and Thomas Nieckarz, were employees at a Guilderland meatpacking company. Colonie Fire Chief Jeffrey Kayser, knew Sheila as a young boy and followed the case into his career.

Chief Kayser said the two men knocked Sheila unconscious with a shovel and buried her near the meatpacking building. However, when that Guilderland company made plans to expand, the two men moved Sheila's body into the Watervliet Reservoir.

It wasn't until May of 1971, that her body was found by five high schoolers, while they were hiking. Charles Oechler and Thomas Nieckarz were arrested over four years later and sentenced to prison.

The day after Sheila went missing, Dave recalled going on a search with his father.

“I looked over to the left and we noticed something on the ground there, and we noticed books, a shoe, and a few other things, and they were Sheila's," said Dave.

That was when Dave knew something horrible had happened. He described that Sheila wasn't the type to sleepover a friends' house and not tell anyone, or run away. Chief Kayser was only six years old when Sheila died, but he said she was good friends with his older siblings.

“Sheila was very outgoing, athletic girl, she was a gymnast, she was involved in two churches, in the band, the orchestra," Chief Kayser said. "She embodied what a lot of parents would hope their kids to be."

Now, Chief Kayser is organizing a dedication service to honor Sheila's memory. Community members are invited to partake in this memorial at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 9 at the Colonie Village Hall, where the village will unveil a bench, rock fountain, and stone monument, all dedicated to Sheila.

“We wanted something that would convey tranquility and we thought a bubbler fountain," said Chief Kayser. "The blue stone will have a two-foot-long plaque with Sheila's graduation picture and a paragraph about who she was and what she meant to the community."

Dave believes that Sheila would've been something great if she were still alive today.

"If you're out there and can see this, I think she would think her life, and the tragic nature of her death, was a tragedy for the community and affected so many people, but in the end, some good has come out of it," said Dave. "I sure wish that I, my brother, my wife, our kids, could’ve known you as an adult."

This 1970 murder was one that shook the lives of many of Sheila's peers. Dave believes it woke some residents to the understanding that there is some bad in the world, even in towns like Colonie.

“I think people realized that there's a big bad world out there to some degree, there are things going on outside, and the village of Colonie was part of that," said Dave.  

But even after this tragedy, Dave said he is looking forward to Sheila's memorial service and hopes to see a lot of people there.

“The motto of the village of Colonie is 'A Place To Be Proud Of' and I think that is truly the case,” said Dave.

Dave also introduced a scholarship for South Colonie High School female students back in 2019. The scholarship, called the Sheila Allen Memorial Scholarship, aims to help students pay for the next step in their lives -- college. One that Sheila wasn't alive to make.

Students can apply for the scholarship by submitting an essay. Anyone interested in donating to support the family and the scholarship cause, can do so on their website.