Introduction: Ann Katherine ‘Annie’ Rippel was born on January 26, 1956 to Harry and Leah Rippel in Batavia, NY. Harry W. ‘Rip’ Rippel Junior was born on March 22, 1930 in Batavia, and was a 1948 graduate of Batavia High School. Shortly after he graduated, Rip got a job as a lineman with the New York Telephone Company (which is also known as NYTel), where he worked until he was drafted into the military (he served from 1950 to 1953). Upon returning home, Mr. Rippel continued his employment with the telephone company and worked for them for a total of thirty-seven years until he retired in 1986; at one point in his life, he also worked as a corrections officer and was employed at the Attica Prison. Ann’s mother Leah Katherine Folts was born on May 7, 1930 in Rochester, NY, and after she graduated from Saint Agnes High School, she also got a job at the New York Telephone Company.
Mr. Rippel was in the US Army during the Korean War, and at one point he served overseas in France (according to his father’s obituary); upon returning home, he and Leah got married at St. James Church in Batavia in 1954, and the couple went on to have three children together: Ann, Daniel, William (b. 1958); at some point they divorced and Harry got married for a second time to Donna G. (nee Spink) Flor on March 25, 1961 in Wellsboro, PA; they had three children together: Janet, Kathleen and Karen. On June 21, 1979 Leah got remarried to Donald Nelson Jones in Miami after she relocated to Florida.
Before I go any further, I want to express my gratitude towards Ann’s daughter, Victoria, who was kind enough to answer some questions I had about her mother and helped provide me with some clarity on a few points that were unclear. She was only ten when her mom was killed, and because of this she didn’t fully grasp exactly what was happening at the time: she said that some of what she knows comes from her own memories, where other things her family told her.
Ann graduated from Alexander High school in 1974, and she got married to Frederick Griffin sometime afterwards, who was a jockey at Batavia Downs; the couple had two children together, Sammy (b. 1976) and Robert (b. 1978). Vicky said that in addition to her brothers, Fred also had children from other relationships, and she always maintained a good relationship with her stepfather; she said that one of her earliest memories of him is that he bought her a doll when she was little. After Ann’s divorce from Fred, she went on to have a long-term relationship with Victoria’s father, Vincent Macheda, an Italian immigrant who came to the US at the age of fifteen in 1967; Vicky let me know that there was a significant age difference between her parents and that they were never married; she also said their relationship could be ‘very volatile.’
Ann graduated from Alexander High school in 1974, and she got married to Frederick Griffin sometime afterwards, who was a jockey at Batavia Downs; the couple had two children together, Sammy (b. 1976) and Robert (b. 1978). Vicky said that in addition to her brothers, Fred also had children from other relationships, and she always maintained a good relationship with her stepfather; she said that one of her earliest memories of him is that he bought her a doll when she was little. After Ann’s divorce from Fred, she went on to have a long-term relationship with Victoria’s father, Vincent Macheda, an Italian immigrant that came to the US at the age of fifteen in 1967; Victoria also let me know that there was a significant age difference between her parents, and that they were never married; she also said their relationship could be ‘very volatile.’
In her early years, Victoria primarily lived with her mom (although she clarified that her living arrangements changed on several occasions after court hearings), however shortly after her brother Sammy was killed in 1993, Ann gave full custody to her dad; she feels this most likely occurred because she reached a point where she could no longer manage or control her addiction and that giving Vincent custody was the best thing she could have done for everyone (Robert was also sent to live with his father). Macheda worked as a maintenance technician at Lapp Insulators, and when he got full custody of Victoria he took early retirement.
Around three years prior to her death Ann had married a man with the surname ‘Lee’ (although Victoria did not remember his first name), however that relationship didn’t last long and she was not living with him when she died (‘Lee’ had been her legal last name at the time of her death). Victoria said that domestic violence was a recurring theme in most of her mother’s relationships and right before her death, she had a new boyfriend that had given her a black eye. She also said there is a long history of alcoholism in her family, and that her mom’s addiction ‘didn’t exist in a vacuum: There are generational patterns that I think affected many members of my family.’
When she was very small Victoria remembers only ‘one or two visits to my grandfather’s home. My brothers would sometimes go to Florida and stay with my grandmother, but I never did. I think my mom craved relationships but struggled greatly with them.’ She also let me know that after her parents divorced her mom and uncle moved to Florida with their mom, but Ann was sent back to NY at some point to live with her father because she was getting too ‘wild;’ eventually, she found barrel racing and rode under the nickname ‘The Florida Cowgirl.’
Some of Victoria’s favorite memories of her mom are the smaller ones that most other people might overlook: ‘she had a way of telling me she loved me using hand motions. She would point to her eye for ‘I’ put her hand over her heart for ‘love,’ and then point at me for “you.” I still remember that. I remember being sick and my mom making a bed for me on the couch so I could lie there and watch Unsolved Mysteries with her. There is obviously a pretty heavy irony in that memory now. Some of my favorite family memories are also very ordinary. We didn’t have a lot growing up, but I remember my mom taking all of us shopping for Starter pullovers, which were basically the jackets to have in the 1990’s. I remember each of us getting one, and I remember the feeling of simply being together. I also remember Sammy playing airplane with me. He was my big brother and protector, and that is one of the memories I will always carry with me.’
Growing up, Victoria remembers seeing Stephen King books around their house, but she: ‘doesn’t know that I could confidently say which book was her favorite. Her all-time favorite musician was Janis Joplin. She listened to her constantly. My middle name, Rose, was partly influenced by the movie about Janis Joplin’s life. To this day, when I hear a Janis Joplin song, even when it is a remake, I immediately think of my mom.’
When I asked Victoria to describe her mother, she shared that she was ‘incredibly full of life. In many ways, she was still a kid even into her 30’s. She still had a security blanket, which I think speaks to how insecure and unsettled she felt in her own life. But she loved deeply. I have never doubted that my mom loved me. She loved all of her children. I believe she simply had something, her addiction, that ultimately had a greater hold on her than her love alone could overcome. She was incredibly caring toward other people. She would give you the shirt off her back if you needed it. She made the best peanut butter cookies and collard greens in the world. She adored animals, and we always had pets. I think my love of cats comes from her because there was almost always a cat around when I was growing up. We had a black cat named Batman, which I named when I was little. At her core, I think my mom was someone who desperately wanted to be loved. I also think she struggled to believe that she was worthy of that love. She was.’
The Tragic Death of Sammy Griffin: in 1993, Ann’s son, seventeen-year-old Sammy M. Griffin was tragically shot and killed at a ‘friends’ apartment on South Swan Street in the city of Batavia: police later recovered a .30 caliber rifle from the scene and determined that he died from a gunshot wound to the head. Fifteen-year-old Jeremy M. Fairbanks was accused in connection with the shooting, and according to Sammy’s half-sister, Nicole Griffin, the teens were reportedly playing Russian roulette and it’s her belief that her brother attempted to slap the gun out of the other boy’s hand, which caused the weapon to discharge into his face (Jeremy’s mother claims the two had been in a dispute over a girl). According to reports, Fairbanks showed signs of concerning behavior before he killed Sammy Griffin, including an incident involving a gun and a friend of the Rippel family.
To avoid trial, Fairbanks pled guilty to manslaughter, claiming he ‘mistakenly pulled the trigger of his father’s rifle while sticking the barrel in Griffin’s mouth.’ Judge Glenn R. Morton denied his request to be tried as a youthful offender, which would have reduced his sentence to about 1 1/3 to four years, and on August 22, 1994 he was sentenced to two to six years in prison (the minimum sentence permitted under the plea agreement created between DA Robert Noonan and his lawyer, John LaDuca); the fourteen months he spent incarcerated at the Monroe County Children’s Center was counted towards his sentence. Both attorney’s called Griffin’s death a ‘reckless accident,’ and agreed the sentence was ‘appropriate.’ According to LaDuca: ‘I think my client was prepared to accept that. I think Jeremy knew exactly what was in store for him.’
According to Jeremy’s mom Judith, she was friends with Ann and couldn’t bear the thought of never again speaking to her again, and in the weeks that followed Sammy’s murder, the two mothers met ‘very quietly’ on several occasions at the First United Methodist Church in Batavia. The meetings went well, and when it was suggested that the two families host a joint community prayer service dedicated to their sons, they agreed; ten days before Jeremy was sentenced, Ann and Judith held a service in a church across the street from the sheriff’s office. About the meetings with Ann, Judith Fairbanks said there was ‘no anger or bitterness between us. We have cried tears over the same things. We have compassion and understanding for each other and our children.’
Victoria described Sammy’s death as a watershed moment for her family: her mom was already struggling with addiction and doesn’t think she ever completely recovered from losing him. She described him as her ‘big brother and my protector. I think both of my brothers tried to shield me from as much as they could when we were young. Sammy was my mom’s firstborn, and I believe his death created a pain that she didn’t know how to process. In my view, addiction became a way for her to avoid feeling that pain.’
April 23, 1997, The Discovery: forty-one-year Ann was last seen in front of the Wilson Farms (which is now a 7/11) located next to her East Main Street apartment at around 11:20 PM on April 22, 1997, and what happened after remains a mystery to this day: tips led detectives to the city of Rochester, where someone claims to have seen her at 3 AM on April 23, 1997. Another led investigators to suspect she may have been at a house party near the creek and may have left with someone who had less than pure intentions (right before I was about to publish this, I saw a Facebook comment made by a person claiming they saw Ann at a bar in Batavia sometime that night as well). The following morning Rippel’s body was discovered in 1-2 inches of shallow water (although one article said it was ‘knee deep’) along the bank of the Little Tonawanda Creek in Alexander (about five to six miles from Batavia). According to former Genesee County Sheriff Gary Maha, she had been found slightly before noon by a mother and her five-year-old son, who were driving across a bridge when they spotted Ann lying face down in the creek near the intersection of Brookville Road and West Bethany Road; she immediately drove to a nearby farmhouse and called the police.
Ann’s body was located near the base of a small trail that led to the creek from a small gravel parking lot close to the Creek Road bridge of the Little Tonawanda Creek; she was naked from the waist down (on top she was wearing a sweater) but still had her socks on. Her other clothes were later found scattered around the creek. According to an article published in The Democrat and Chronicle, there were no outward signs of a trauma or obvious signs of a struggle despite the fact that duct tape had been found near her face and neck; detectives also determined she had not been bound and there were no bruises or defensive wounds anywhere on her body. Ripples autopsy also revealed that she did not have intercourse in the hours preceding her demise, and she had not been sexually assaulted. In the days that followed the discovery, the Genesee County Coroner ruled Ann’s death an ‘accidental drowning,’ even though the circumstances and how she arrived at the remote location still remain a mystery.
In a 2019 interview with ‘2 On Your Side,’ Ann’s half-sister Janet said in the months prior to her death she had distanced herself from her family because she was struggling with issues related to substance abuse: ‘unfortunately she had addictions that kept pulling her back in, but she really wanted to be there for her kids.’ Rippel also said there were two men fishing nearby at the time her sisters remains were discovered, but neither one remembered seeing her in the water earlier that morning.
According to Janet, on the day her sister’s remains were discovered she got a call from their dad, who ‘had called me and said, ‘They found your sister, Ann. They found her dead in the Tonawanda Creek.’ … ‘It was a shock. I mean, I really don’t even remember how I reacted it was, we were all in shock.’ She also said her sister’s body was found in a place that she did not frequent and pointed out that she didn’t have a driver’s license let alone her own vehicle, and wonders how she even got there: ‘what has always struck me as odd is this was out of Annie’s area. She was Batavia/Rochester. She would hop on a bus and go to Rochester, come back to Batavia. She wouldn’t have been out in the middle of nowhere. That just wasn’t her.’
Janet said that according to the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office: ‘nobody knew how she got there, what time she got there, and we don’t know who she was with. Her head was in the water; her feet were on the bank. She was wearing her sweater and socks. The rest of the clothes were thrown around the bank. She had tape around, duct tape around her neck, which we believe was probably from her mouth pulled down.’
In the period before her death, Lee was known to have been involved with some minor conflicts with the Batavia Police Department, and it has been confirmed that she traveled to Rochester at least twice on April 22 to buy crack cocaine; investigators said that one of two those trips took place immediately after she called a rehab center in one of many half-hearted attempts at getting clean. Police at the time said they were aware of any plans she had of returning to Rochester again later that night, and it’s unclear whether she went or not.
Janet suspects that her sister’s untimely death had something to do with drugs, and over the years she has not heard about any suspects or persons of interest related to the case: ‘I know that there were a couple people that the police interviewed heavily. That’s all they really told me is that they interviewed them heavily. There was DNA that they had found at the scene that they processed, that they’ve never found a match to.’
According to former director of Genesee Justice Dennis Wittman, Lee’s adult life was a rough one: she had a penchant for alcohol and drugs, but when she was sober was a different person, and ‘she had a heart for decency, even though she struggled.’ About the way she was found, Former Chief Deputy with the Genesee County Sheriff’s Department Jerome Brewster said that he strongly felt that ‘someone drove her there. We believe someone was with her when she died. Maybe they panicked and left.’
Victoria said the last time she saw her mom was on her tenth birthday: she had been ‘watching cartoons, ‘Wishbone.’ That was my favorite. She came in and gave me a Barbie. I was obsessed with Barbies. It was a Tooth Fairy Barbie. She always made birthdays special.’ On the afternoon she learned about her mom’s death she had just gotten out of school and was at her caregiver’s house and had been playing with her American Girl dolls when someone called and relayed the news: ‘I remember hearing her shouting and crying. She called me into the room and, through her tears, told me that my mom was dead. The only way I can describe what I felt is that it was as though my heart had literally been ripped from my chest. A part of me was being taken away because a part of me actually was. It hit me like a tidal wave. That is one of those moments where I can remember the feeling, the room, and the circumstances with an incredible amount of clarity even all these years later.’
Victoria struggled immensely after the loss of her mother, and she ‘felt incredibly alone. I already struggled to fit in with my peers, and suddenly I wasn’t just the child who had lost her mother, I was the child whose mother might have been murdered in an unsolved case that was being discussed in newspapers, on television and on the radio. Sometimes it was the elephant in the room. There are little memories that demonstrate just how much the case followed me through childhood. In elementary school, I had to talk to my teacher about why I couldn’t go on a field trip because they were visiting the cemetery where my mom was buried. In middle school, I needed to be excused from health class because the CPR training doll was named Annie. That was simply too close to home for me.’
The Investigation: Genesee County investigators said Rippel’s body was not in the water for very long before it was discovered, and the area in Alexander where she was found was often frequented by individuals that used it as a ‘pull off area.’ Genesee Country detectives theorized that maybe she had been left somewhere nearby in a ‘bound condition,’ but was somehow able to get up, shake off (most of) the duct tape and her restraints, then somehow ended up face down in the water.
In recent years, Genesee Country Investigator Pete Welker began going through Ann’s case file, and according to him, ‘just seeing if there are things that weren’t covered and cover them or just to rehash a few things, a lot has changed in 21 years as far as DNA evidence goes.’ He also said there was DNA evidence collected at the scene in April of 1997, which has been routinely submitted to genetic databanks since 1997 (as new samples from criminals are added every day).
In 2012, Chief Deputy Brewster says he got a call that a forensics lab saying they may have had a familial match: ‘there was a bunch of protocols I had to go through to continue with that process. I got everything all set to go and all my ducks in a row and then I got a call from the lab saying that the sample unfortunately did not meet the threshold.’
According to a 2012 interview with Batavia’s ‘The Daily News,’ Chief Brewster said that ‘the whole thing makes you wonder, whoever was with her probably left her in some state with duct tape on her. The investigation shows only one person walked down to the water and that was Ann. She was not helped into the water.’ He also went on to say that at the time of her death investigators did not suspect murder but believed that someone was with Lee at the time of her death and had simply fled the scene. It was also well known that she would frequently accept rides from strangers, and particularly in her last days suffered from seizures related to her addiction. Brewster theorized that someone had been with her, and they panicked when she had a seizure and had simply left her there, and that she may have crawled or fallen into the water and drowned: ‘I am not convinced she was murdered. Most are of the same opinion. She was with someone and she died, I believe, under her own power. If she was in distress and was left there, then someone should be held responsible.’
At the time of her mother’s death, Victoria was already somewhat isolated from most of the maternal side of her family because of their living arrangements: she said her grandfather took her mom’s loss very hard and he never really talked about it with her, but she does remember that he did make an effort to communicate with law enforcement and helped plan her funeral. Victoria said that her grandmother on the other hand was very open about how difficult her relationship with Ann was, as well as the issues they had over the years, and after her death the two became very close and, in ‘many ways, I think we grieved my mom together.’
A Criminal Profile: when writing his 2020 book on Ann title ‘Candles in the Rain,’ Attica based author Rob Thompson came up with what he feels is a profile of her killer, but before I go on, I do want to point out that he holds a BS in Human Services and a MA in English Literature. I could find no evidence of any formal education or training related to criminology or forensic psychology, however I do understand that he worked in the human services field for most of his career, and because of that he most likely picked up some of his knowledge through on-the-job training (I also understand he most likely took some psychology classes while in college, I obviously have not seen his transcript).
In his book, Thompson does not list any suspects by name, however he did provide an ‘offenders profile’ of traits that he feels the individual that was with Lee during the final hours of her life may have possessed: ‘I conclude the book with my providing a behavioral profile on a possible suspect to the family. My background in psychology and literary psychoanalytical criticism aids me during such pursuits. Based on studying the scene, the public information on the crime and after interviewing Ann’s family my detailed profile includes this: Ann’s possible offender is a white male who in 1997 was nineteen to twenty-four years old, and 42 to 47 years old now. At the time of the crime, he would reside within a two-mile radius of the scene and possess a central European surname, for example, German or Polish. He is knowledgeable of the creek and its various access points. He would have been a casual acquaintance of Ann’s.’ The profile ends with Mr. Thompson labeling the possible suspect a ‘sociopath.’
Thompson also said that: ‘in my opinion, the investigating officers are and have been very close to solving this case. I believe it comes down to just one or two things or even just one long-silent voice stepping forward. I wanted the readers to know Ann was a very real person and not a just a dusty file folder.’
A Connection to the LISK?: I came across an interesting coincidence while researching Ann’s case on the WordPress blog ‘Murder, Inc:‘ according to the site’s creator, Rex Heuermann’s uncle, Valentine Socha lived in Pavilion, NY at the time Ann was killed, which is only a fifteen-minute drive from where she was living at the time. Additionally, he was known to use duct tape on his victims (as investigators found that some of them were bound or wrapped up with it). Although it’s definitely odd, nothing has ever conclusively tied Rex Heuermann to the murder of Ann Rippel.
Altemio Sanchez: a name I came across a few times in relation to the murder of Ann Rippel is Altemio Sanchez (aka the Bike Path Rapist), a serial killer that was active in Western New York from the late 1970’s until his arrest in January 2007. In the late 1970’s/early 80’s he was suspected of committing numerous sexual assaults and rapes in the Buffalo area, and his behavior escalated in September 1990 when he raped and murdered University at Buffalo student Linda Yalem; in June 1992 he raped and murdered Majane Mazur. He had a period of dormancy until September 2006 when he killed Joan Diver, which led to DNA profiling that ultimately linked him to the earlier crimes and his 2007 arrest.
Later that year, Sanchez pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree murder for the deaths of Linda Yalem (1990), Majane Mazur (1992), and Joan Diver (2006) and was sentenced to seventy-five years to life in prison; DNA evidence tied him to roughly fourteen to twenty additional rapes and sexual assaults beginning in the 1970’s and ending in the 90’s (which he was not prosecuted for to the statute of limitations running out). He died in custody in September 2023 at the age of sixty-five. Despite being semi-close in proximity to Batavia, nothing conclusively ties Sanchez to the death of Ann Rippel.
Richard Fox: another name I came across while looking into Ann’s murder is Richard Fox, a serial killer that was active in the western part of NY across multiple periods of time that spanned decades, beginning as a teenager in 1976 when he murdered his grandma Beatrice Meabon in the town of Brant. He abstained from killing again until 2003/2004 when he took the life of Cassandra Watson in Buffalo; in 2021 Fox killed Marquita Mull in Buffalo, and in January 2023 he killed Crystal Curthoys in Niagara Falls. Despite being close to Batavia, nothing conclusively ties Fox to Ann’s death, and according to Janet Rippel he has officially been exonerated thanks to DNA.
Jeremy Fairbank’s Activity after Killing Sammy Griffin: after he was convicted on the manslaughter charge for killing Sammy Griffin, Jeremy Fairbanks was sentenced to two to six years in prison. He was initially sentenced to a juvenile detention facility and spent his final year in prison; he was released in February 1998. His freedom didn’t last long, and four months after his release he was back in prison, serving a two-to-four-year term for assault; he served three years and was released in 2001. Three years later, Fairbanks was back in the news after he repeatedly sexually assaulted a thirteen-year-old girl: he pled guilty to first-degree sexual abuse and was sentenced to five years in prison. Seven years later he violated parole and was returned to prison for another two years and was released in 2013. He is classified a level two, sexually violent offender on the New York State Sex Offender Registry.
Since then, Fairbanks has had a series of (comparably) minor arrests: in December 2019 he was arrested after a domestic disturbance on Jackson Street in Batavia and was charged with first degree strangulation (a felony). In February 2020 he was arrested on a bench warrant after he failed to comply with a court ordered program that he was instructed to take the month prior; after his arrest he was released under the supervision of Genesee County Probation. Perhaps his most impressive feat is related to charges from July 2020 when he (along with his then girlfriend, Leah R.H. Kelly) violated a city court order repeatedly over several months; both individuals were hit with 306 counts each of second-degree criminal contempt, totaling 612 charges between the couple. This mass volume of charges was noted by local media as potentially the largest number of charges ever simultaneously filed against an individual in Genesee County history. I lost track of Fairbanks’ activity after that 2020 arrest, and if he is currently incarcerated it isn’t at the Genesee County Jail.
Victoria’s Thoughts: when I asked Ann’s daughter what she thinks happened to her mom, she said it was ‘probably the hardest question because I want to be very clear that what follows is my personal belief, not something I can prove. My mom had struggled with seizures before her death. I also know that the boyfriend she was with at the time had previously threatened her life and had been physically violent toward her. Based on what I know and what I have learned over the years, I believe she may have suffered a seizure, either that night or earlier, and that the people she was with may have believed she was unconscious or dead and left her rather than getting her the help she needed.’
‘I also suspect that the people around her may have been under the influence of drugs. But I want to emphasize that this is my interpretation of the circumstances, not a statement of established fact. What I do know is that the saddest part for me is that my mom, a person who had such a giving spirit and who would do almost anything for another person, was ultimately left alone during her final moments. That is the part that breaks my heart.’
When I asked her if she thought the investigation could have been handled differently, she said she does ‘believe the police did what they believed was the best they could at the time. This was 1997, and I don’t think most of the people involved had ever dealt with a case like this. At the same time, I wish more resources, particularly at the state level, would have been brought in sooner. I understand that this was an incredibly complicated case, and I don’t pretend to know everything investigators were dealing with at the time. I do know that DNA evidence was collected at the scene. I don’t know how much was collected, what condition it remains in, or whether it is usable today. I would absolutely hope that modern forensic resources, including a laboratory such as Othram, could potentially help unlock answers if the available evidence is suitable for additional testing. At this point, I think any legitimate avenue that could help determine what happened to my mom is worth exploring.’
Conclusion: Harry Rippel died at the age of eighty-eight on August 21, 2018 in Olean General Hospital after battling a short illness. According to his obituary, he was married to his wife Donna for forty-three years at the time of his death, and at one point in his younger years he served as ‘constable’ of East Bethany; he was also a past president of the Bethany Volunteer Fire Department and an honorary member/former commander of the Batavia American Legion Glen S. Loomis Post 332. Rip was also a member of the Telephone Pioneers of America and upon moving to Olean, he was a communicant of St. John’s Catholic Church, and a member of the St. Stephen’s Club. He deeply loved animals and enjoyed the company of many pets over the years.
Ann’s mother died of natural causes at the age of eighty-four on July 4, 2014 in North Little Rock, Arkansas (Victoria believes she had either just moved there to be closer to her Uncle Daniel either right before Ann died or shortly afterward). Per her obituary, she worked for the New York Telephone Company for many years, and according to her granddaughter, ‘she loved to travel, which was something we talked about often. She came to every graduation I had, and that meant more to me than I can probably explain. There were so many milestones where I wished my mom could have been there.’ One of Victoria’s favorite stories that her grandmother ever shared about her mom involved Robert Kennedy: Leah helped organize his open-car motorcade through Buffalo’s East Side along Broadway during his 1964 US Senate campaign, and at one point when Ann had been sitting in the car with him, she asked why he had so many children and suggested that maybe he shouldn’t have any more. Vicky said her ‘grandmother was absolutely mortified at the time, but she laughed when she told me the story years later.’
In a September 2018 interview with Batavia’s ‘Video News Service,’ Ann’s stepdaughter Nicole Griffin said the family needs closure after all these years, and her ‘mother passed away not knowing what happened to her and her father just recently closed his eyes not knowing what happened either.’ …’We live day by day wondering you know, is this somebody that we hang out with that knows? Is it a drifter that just came through, could it be a member of law enforcement? It’s just frustrating to know that we may never know what happened to her.’
Nicole also said Ann was a great mom and had her issues like anybody else: ‘she was a vibrant person who loved everybody. She would give you anything that she had if you didn’t have it.’ She had been found deceased a month before her son’s graduation from Batavia High School, where he was a star football and basketball player: ‘my brother Bobby and I have been through some troubled times. We have learned to cope with it and learned to deal with it. I feel like my brother Bobby has not had a proper goodbye to his mom.’ … ‘Despite the lifestyle my mom lived, she is still somebody’s mother, somebody’s daughter, somebody’s aunt, cousin or friend. She wasn’t a nobody, she was very much loved and is very much missed.’ Per Janet, her sister ‘was a fireball. Her energy was just like nothing you’ve ever seen.’
Victoria currently lives in Weedsport, NY with her husband and according to her LinkedIn profile, she is ‘a nonprofit leader, trauma-informed advocate, and public speaker who believes in the transformative power of community, mentorship, and hope.’ She has earned two master’s degrees and was voted ‘Mrs. New York American 2024;’ in addition to her many talents, Victoria also has a blog on her website (victoriawejko.com), where she discusses a variety of different topics, ranging from her love of pageantry to guidance and help for those suffering from childhood trauma. About the investigation into her mom’s death she said, ‘the police do contact me every once in a while. There’s never much to report. I still think there’s not an answer. It’s sad and heartbreaking, but I know that she’s at peace.’ According to his Facebook page, Ann’s son Robert lives in Newfane with his wife and four kids, and he loves being a dad.
Twenty-nine-years after Rippel’s tragic was found lying in a few inches of water in Alexander, the circumstances behind her death remain unknow, and the Genesee County Sheriff’s Department is still looking into her case with the hope of one day providing her family with answers. According to Former Chief Deputy Brewster (in 2012), ‘new leads come in periodically. Right now, we are looking out west for a person. There is someone out there who knows what happened. We just have to find that person.’ In April 2026 it was announced that the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office had plans of sending the DNA evidence that was collected at the crime scene out to be analyzed using enhanced forensic techniques, which was made possible through newly acquired grant funding.
I want to conclude this article with one final statement about Ann made by her daughter: ‘I think the most important thing I would want people to understand is that my mom was more than the circumstances of her death: She was an addict. She made mistakes. She was involved in unhealthy relationships. She struggled in ways that ultimately had devastating consequences. But she was also a mother who loved her children. She was funny and vibrant. She loved animals. She made incredible food. She listened to Janis Joplin. She had a security blanket as an adult. She told me she loved me with hand motions. She made me a bed on the couch when I was sick and watched Unsolved Mysteries with me. She was complicated, as all human beings are.’
Works Cited:
‘AKA.’ (September 6, 2018). ‘DNA could now provide answers in an unsolved death from 21 years ago.’ Taken August 7, 2026 from videonewsservices.net
‘AKA.’ (April 10, 2019). ‘Family Creates Facebook Page in the Hopes of Finding Answers in Unsolved Death.’ Taken August 8, 2026 from videonewsservices.net
Batavia News Staff. (April 26, 2026). ‘Sheriff’s office continues to seek leads in 1997 Bethany cold case.’ Taken August 7, 2026 from thedailynewsonline.com
Becker, Mari. (April 23, 2026). ”It’s a constant reminder’: Sister of Genesee County cold case homicide victim Hoping for Justice.’ Taken August 8, 2026 from wkbw.com
Desmit, Scott. (October 15, 2020). ‘Unsolved Mystery: Author uses historical fiction to tackle 23-year-old homicide.’ Updated Oct 15, 2020 TheDailyNewsOnline.com
Desmit, Scott. (November 17, 2016). ‘Still Only Theories: Homicide Believed a Possibility in Deaths.’ Taken August 8, 2026 from thedailynewsonline.com
Desmit, Scott. (July 8, 2020). ‘Coiuple Facing 612 Chargges.’ Taken August 10, 2026 from thedailynewsonline.com
Gallagher, Tommy. (April 23, 2026). ‘Genesee County seeks fresh leads in decades-old Ann Rippel investigation.’ Taken August 8, 2026 from wgrz.com
Gandy, George. (April 23, 2026). ‘Nearly 30 years later, Genesee County death remains unsolved.’ Taken August 8, 2026 from rochesterfirst.com
Leconte, Joseph. (January 1, 1998). ‘Making Criminals Pay: Genesee County leads a national movement to make criminals accountable to their victims.’ Taken August 9, 2-026 from hoover.org
Stack, Leanne. (November 22, 2019). ‘Unsolved: Family seeks justice for Batavia woman found dead in creek.’ Taken August 7, 2016 from wgrz.com
street on December 13, 2019.
Another Bundy Blog: My Adventures around the Pacific Northwest (and everywhere else). 