Joan was delivering two boxes of Girl Scout cookies to a neighbor who lived across the street, three houses down from her house.The neighbor, a Tappan Zee high school chemistry teacher, Joseph McGowan raped and murdered her. This happened on April 19, 1973.

McGowan became eligible for parole for a third time in January 2009 and was denied on December 8, 2008. Today on June 11, 2009 the parole board released its decision that McGowan's next parole eligibility will not be for 30 years, which amounts to about 18 years after deductions.

This decision comes after Joan's mother Rosemarie led a continuous nine-month effort to publicize the danger to the public that the release of McGowan would cause along with a grassroots movement of concerned citizens that grew to support this effort. Over 80,000 personal signatures and 7,000 letters were collected.

McGowan now has 180 days to decide if he will appeal the decision of the parole board, which he did the previous time his parole was denied.