Five years later, and still no answers.

Dana Bailey, 21, a senior health planning and administration major, was found dead in her apartment on Thursday, March 5, 1987 -- during that year's spring break. She was found by her mother in her one-bedroom apartment above Crabtrees Jewelers, 132 S. Allen St.

The Philipsburg native was stabbed six to seven times in the chest with a knife from her kitchen, according to the autopsy filed by Coroner W. Robert Neff. She was found tied to a chair in her bedroom.

"It's still open," said State College Bureau of Police Services Chief Elwood Williams Jr. "At this point there are no witnesses to this homicide, which makes it extremely difficult to investigate. We've interviewed hundreds of people and there is still no information at this point that would lead to an arrest."

Police believe the murderer entered Bailey's apartment through a kitchen window.

Nothing of substantial value was taken from the apartment, ruling out robbery as a motive, said Investigator Thomas Jordan, who has been working on the case from the start. The incident has been classified as a sex-related or lust murder, but this doesn't mean that she was sexually assaulted.

"I don't have the answer to that question," Jordan said when asked if Bailey was raped. "I don't know if I can give you the answer to that question."

State College police have been unable to develop enough evidence or information to establish probable cause to make an arrest.

"In my 31 years here, there have been three homicides in our jurisdiction. The only case still open is the Bailey homicide," Williams said. "It keeps getting tougher. We're as anxious as anybody to find the person or persons responsible, arrest them and bring them before the court."

The suspect or suspects could be anywhere by now -- maybe still in the community, he said.

"We monitor reports of homicides from across the United States to see if the person responsible could be killing elsewhere," Jordan said.

Bailey had returned on Wednesday, March 4, 1987, from visting her fiance in Washington, D.C. She told her roommate, who was a friend from her hometown, that she was tired and didn't want to go to work at The Corner Room restaurant, 100 W. College Ave. Her mother, Shirley, called The Corner Room and told a supervisor her daughter would not be going to work.

At 5:30 that night, she went to an exercise class at Lady Nautilus, rear of 323 E. Beaver Ave., five blocks from her apartment. When the class ended at 6:30, she supposedly returned to her apartment. At 8:30, she spoke with her fiance on the phone.

The three other apartments on the floor were empty that night and her roommate had gone home for the evening.

The stabbing was reported at 3:04 the next afternoon.

"It's a sensitive situation, a different kind of situation when a murder has not been solved and they only have one every couple of years," said William Walsh, assistant professor of administration of justice.

The Bailey homicide was the first in State College in six years. There has not been one since. State College police's jurisdiction includes the borough and Harris and College townships through contracts, Williams said.

"Bits and pieces of information continue to come in from time to time," Williams said. The passage of time makes solving the case tougher, but Williams said it's still possible.

Within the last four to five months, Jordan distributed from 15 to 20 files on possible suspects to the investigative unit to follow up on. Also, within the last two weeks, Jordan has received two new bits of information he will pursue.

"When you see that kind of effort even five years after a crime, it shows we are still trying to put something together here," Jordan said. "I can honestly say that not a day goes by that I don't think about this case. This is a serious crime and we would like to find who is responsible."

A behavioral profile of Bailey's murderer -- an investigative tool used to focus in on suspects --was released by the FBI in February of 1989, Jordan said. The FBI profile said the killer stalked her from an abandoned building opposite Bailey's apartment. DNA fingerprinting found in the building belonged to a maintenance person who is not considered a suspect.

Local media and student organizations were in an uproar then because it was believed the police did not release enough information about the case, which would pose a threat to other local women.

"I don't think there have been any indiscriminatory attacks on women on or off campus since this. There were real fears that haven't been substantiated," William said.

The media wanted the police to release every detail, Williams said, which would have hindered the investigation.

"We announced it occurred and alerted the citizenry," he said. "We wouldn't do anything different if it happened again."

Three years ago, the police were contacted by NBC's "Unsolved Mysteries," but still had leads that they wanted to follow up on, and that's as far as it went, Jordan said.

"We were contacted again two years ago and agreed to talk with them," he said. "We relayed a synopsis of the case and they determined it is not the type of case conducive to what they put on the show."

A $15,000 reward established by private donors in 1987 is still available for the person providing information that leads to an arrest and conviction.

"You wonder if there really is someone out there with a piece of information that could help solve it and hasn't come forward," Williams said. "We would like to be bothered with any bit of information. They may not realize the value to what they know. It could be what leads us to the arrest."

The family has been kept informed and has been supportive and open with the police, Jordan said.

"I'm sure at this point they are as frustrated as we are that we can't come up with the culprit," Williams said.