Cynthia Nosek:1979, Trevorton, Pennsylvania

   


  Cynthia Nosek was born on December 8th, 1960 to Joann Haring Wagner and Jerome Nosek in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Her father does not seem to have been in her life very much. His address was listed as unknown in her obituary.) 

  Cynthia attended Mahanoy Area High School in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania. That is east of Shamokin and south of Hazelton if you are thinking about any other recent cases we have discussed. Mahanoy City is west of Philadelphia out in coal country in central Pennsylvania. Cynthia’s family lived in Barnesville. 

  This area of Pennsylvania is beautiful. Picture rolling forested hills and valleys. Streams and rivers run through the land. People fish and hunt for recreation. The fall colors are very beautiful as well. (Hunting and fishing involve quite a bit of lead exposure. Combine that with cheap lead paint in blue collar housing a lead in the gasoline and it is not surprising that so many violent killers come out of areas like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana etc. If lead poisoning is indeed a factor in violent behavior.) 

  Cynthia Nosek was happily engaged in 1979. She and Kevin Ketchledge of Tamaqua had plans to marry.  I imagine she was thinking about a wedding dress, flowers and a cake. She was also a high school senior and looking forward to graduation. 

  On Friday, January 26th, 1979, Cynthia’s mother, Joann reported her missing. Cynthia had left the house that afternoon to catch a ride to the Pottsville Mall. More than a month would go by before any sign of the 18 year old would be found. Imagine watching the snow fall over and over and wondering and hoping if your daughter was somewhere warm and safe. 

  On March 3rd, 1979, two men were training their hunting dogs in the woods in the hills above Trevorton. The dogs led them to a set of human remains.  

  Cynthia Nosek had been stabbed and beaten. She was found without clothing. Investigators surmised that she was also sexually assaulted and that this was the motivation for the attack and the murder. The medical examiner estimated that Cynthia had been stabbed in the torso 20 times. Her body was found near a tree that police supposed that she had fallen against as she was being stabbed and beaten. 

  Cynthia’s engagement ring was also missing. 

  Her coat and handbag were later found in the brush strewn along the road from Trevorton to Shamokin. 


  Eventually three men would be arrested for the murder of Cynthia Nosek. Richard Fortune was 20 then. His younger brother, Roy, was 19. They lived in Gowen City. The third man, Robert E. Martin of Shamokin, was 22. 


  Robert E. Martin was already in jail, awaiting trial for the murder of a 20 year old man, Wesley Griffiths.

  20 year old Richard Fortune was arrested at home. 

  19 year old Roy Fortune was arrested as he was heading into a movie theater with his wife and young son. I wonder if they were going to see "Rocky II". That was the number one movie that summer. 

  The story that the men eventually told was that they saw Cynthia Nosek hitchhiking and picked her up. They did not take her to the mall as she wanted though. They said that they all went to dinner together. Then they gave evasive answers about how the gang rape and murder happened. None of the men denied being there when Cynthia was raped and murdered. Not one of them tried to stop it.

  I don't think Cynthia Nosek entered the car with them willingly. The men said that they had been drinking and smoking pot.  I don't see an 18 year old young woman getting into a car with them willingly.   

  The Fortune brothers were actually out on parole when they committed the violent sexual assault and murder of Cynthia Nosek. The year before, on May 11th, 1978 the brothers broke into a home at Klingerstown and stole numerous items. They were not held in custody before or during that trial. That’s one reason that they were free to assault and murder Cynthia. 

  Richard Fortune was found guilty of second degree murder in November of 1979 according to a newspaper article at the time. He was sentenced to life in prison. Roy's trial would begin later.

  On May 18th, 1980, Mt. St. Helens erupted in Washington state. Seismic activity had been building in the weeks prior to the catastrophic eruption. Despite the warnings, some people stayed on the mountain and the surrounding area. Some were hoping to see the eruption and get photos. Instead of a lava flow and a plume of smoke, half of the mountain was blasted away in a powerful explosion. The United States had never seen anything like this. Some people have never been found as they are buried under massive amounts of ash, rock, soil and downed trees. 

  On May 29th, Roy Fortune was convicted of first degree murder, rape and conspiracy. He was sentenced to life in prison. He is still incarcerated in Pennsylvania as of July 2026. 

  Robert E. Martin was found guilty and sentenced to prison but later found to be mentally ill and committed to the State Hospital. I have not found anything that indicates that he is free or is deceased. 

  Then in 1985 something unexpected happened. Robert E. Martin confessed that it was he who killed Cynthia Nosek back in 1979. He claimed that Richard Fortune was not the killer. He expressed his regret that he killed Cynthia. 

  Both of the Fortune brothers appealed at that point and requested new trials. Those appeals were denied. 

  Richard Fortune did not come up on the Pennsylvania Incarceration database in July 2026 when I searched for him there. An inmate search did not turn up anyone with that name. He is not on Find a Grave. (Find a Grave does not list every deceased person. It shows the resting places of people that volunteers submit.) I found several men named Richard Fortune who have passed but there was not enough detail given to say that it was this particular man. But, it looks like he has passed away. 

  Roy Fortune is still in prison in Pennsylvania. 

  Cynthia Nosek didn't get to graduate from high school in 1979. She didn’t get to walk down the aisle and marry her fiancée. She didn’t get to pursue higher education or a career. Cynthia did not get to have children or grandchildren. Her entire adult life was stolen from her. 

  Cynthia Nosek is buried at St. Peter’s United Church Cemetery in Barnesville, Pennsylvania. 

  Rest in peace, Cynthia 

  

 

   

  


   

  

  

  




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