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Nearly 4 Decades Later, Former N.Y. State Cop Still Looking For Missing Sister

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- It was 37 years ago that a 20-year-old woman disappeared from a Brooklyn disco. And while it's a decades-old cold case, the woman's brother has not given up on finding out what happened.

Bruce Cuccia told CBS 2's John Slattery that even thought it been more than three decades, he still wants answers about his missing sister.

"She was a wonderful girl, full of life, a great person to be around," Cuccia said.

His sister, Valerie Lorraine Cuccia of Canarsie, Brooklyn, was a college student who loved playing guitar.

On May 7, 1974, she came with a girlfriend to a location in Bay Ridge, which today is a restaurant. In those days it was a night club.

It was called the Mustard Seed and the girlfriend told police Valerie left with two men.

"She last saw her get into a car with Massachusetts plates. She described the two men as 'hard looking,' whatever that meant at the time," Bruce Cuccia said.

Her brother knows the facts so well because he used to be a senior investigator with the New York State Police. He said he believes his sister was murdered.

"I think, unfortunately, she met her demise somehow, become of the number of years that have gone by without contact," Cuccia said.

What he'd like to know about his sister, who would now be 57, is what happened to her.

"Maybe we can locate the remains and at least finish this, and possibly find a suspect," Cuccia said.

As a former investigator, he's never given up.

"I'm absolutely certain that somebody knows something about it. There's always someone who knows something," Cuccia said.

For this brother it's particularly frustrating. Over the years he was able to solve similar cases, but the one closest to his heart remains a mystery.

New York State Crime Stoppers is offering a $2,500 reward, hoping to crack this long-running, cold case.

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