Money Crimes with Nicole Lapin - Su Taraskiewicz: The Last Shift at Logan Pt. 1

Episode Date: September 15, 2026

On September 13, 1992, 27-year-old Su Taraskiewicz left her overnight shift at Boston's Logan Airport to grab sandwiches for her crew and never made it home. The next day, her body was found in the trunk of her own car. As a ramp supervisor and one of the few women on a mostly male crew at Northwest Airlines, Su had spent months enduring a workplace that turned against her. There were taunts, sabotage, and threats she faced just for doing her job well. Eventually her mother uncovered something that reframed the case: a journal, where Su had documented the harassment page after page, naming the men who made her days a struggle.For more, follow The Final Hours wherever you listen to podcasts: https://pod.link/1872821250If you’re new here, don’t forget to follow Scams, Money, & Murder to never miss a case! To hear episodes ad-free, subscribe to Crime House+. Join at crimehouseplus.com or if you’re listening on Apple Podcasts, tap “Try Free” at the top of this show’s page. Scams, Money, & Murder is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios.🎧 Need More to Binge? Listen to other Crime House Originals Clues, Crimes Of Reddit, Crime House 24/7, Serial Killers & Murderous Minds, Murder True Crime Stories, and more wherever you get your podcasts!Follow me on SocialInstagram: @CrimehouseTikTok: @CrimehouseFacebook: @crimehousestudiosX: @crimehousemediaYouTube: @crimehousestudios

Hi listeners, it's Vanessa. Are you the type to fall down an internet rabbit hole and not come up for hours? You'll love Crimes of Reddit, a new crimehouse original with Sabrina Deanna Roga and Alexis Linkletter. Every week, one host brings real true crime stories from Reddit, while the other reacts completely blind. No prep, no spoilers, then they swap. It's the feeling of sending your group chat a threat at 2 a.m. that starts with, You have to see this. Except Sabrina and Alexis. are in the chat with you.

Follow Crimes of Reddit on Apple Podcasts and Spotify or subscribe at Crimes of Reddit Pod on YouTube. This is Crime House. It's 1992. You're about three miles away from Boston's Logan International Airport in Revere, Massachusetts. Off of Route 1A, you see a parking lot in front of a Bravo Automotive Co.

In that lot, one car stands out, a blue Toyota Tersel. What no one has noticed yet is that there's blood dripping from the trunk. If you pop the hatch and look inside, you'll find the single most consequential clue to one big question. What happened to the car's owner? 27-year-old Susan Tarascovitz, an airport employee. While the blue subcompact waits to be discovered, you notice another interesting location. A few doors down from the auto shop stands a sports bar and grill.

This is the Esquire Club, a local watering hole where, a lot of airport employees spend time after hours. People who know and work with Sue come and go at all hours. Was the car abandoned near this location by coincidence? Or does someone inside already know what's hidden in the trunk and what's happened to Sue? 34 years later, these are the questions we're still trying to answer. Every year, over half a million people go missing,

and that's just in the United States alone. Most of those stories barely get a headline. Some don't even get a tip line. And when cases do get media attention, we only get the broad strokes. But for those of us who have lived these true crime cases, we know the devil's in the details. This is the final hours. A crime house original powered by Pave Studios. I'm Sarah Turney.

And I'm Courtney Nicole. Every Monday and Wednesday, Sarah and I will be looking at the final hours of someone's disappearance to see if there was anything hiding in plain sight. Each episode all offer insight on what those close to the victim might have experienced. Courtney will use her expertise to give more context into the investigation itself. Crimehouse exists because of listeners like you. Want even more? Join Crimehouse Plus and get both parts of every story dropped on the Saturday before Part 1 even airs.

Plus plus plus every month. To join, go to CrimehousePlus.com. Or if you listen on Apple Podcasts, tap Try Free at the top of the final hour show page. As always, this show is made and recorded by humans, not AI. This time we're discussing the disappearance of Susan Tarascoitz. On September 13, 1992, 27-year-old Sue worked the graveyard shift at Boston's Logan International Airport as a ramp supervisor.

That night, she offered to pick up sandwiches for her whole crew. So at 1 a.m., Sue left the terminal and drove off, completely unaware that she would never make it back. Susan Tarascovic's case exposes the harsh reality of the glass ceiling. In 1989, when Sue turned 24 years old, she got a job in a male-dominated field at an airport. She loved her work, but some of her teammates didn't like her taking what they considered a man's role. For years, Sue showed up every day and gave the job her all, despite endless bullying and sexual harassment from her male colleagues.

But Sue stood up for herself. Then, one day, she left work and never came back. And it wasn't her choice. But before we talk about what was taken from Sue, let's talk about all the things she accomplished. Susan or Sue Tarascoet grew up in Saugas, Massachusetts, a large town about 10 miles north of Boston. She lived with her parents, Marlene and Ronald, and two siblings. Her sister Debbie was one year older, and her brother Ronnie was seven years younger. In high school, Sue was both athletic and creative, and she never got in trouble.

When she graduated, Sue went to Salem State University and, North Shore Community College before landing at Massachusetts College of Art. Sue loved cartoons and was a huge fan of Snoopy from Peanuts. She collected over 2,000 figurines and even got a personalized autograph from Peanut's creator Charles Schultz. In 1987, when Sue was about 22 years old, she got her first job at Logan International Airport in Boston. She cleaned airplane cabins for a now defunct airline called Northwest that later got

absorbed by Delta. In 1989, after two years on the job, 24-year-old Sue got a promotion. She became the second woman ever to work for Northwest Airlines in Boston as a ground service employee. Her work included unloading bags and de-icing planes, and she was proud of it. Sue still lived with her parents, and her mom, Marlene, said she'd come home and joke about the job. Sue would say things like, I lifted a million bags today, and they were 200 pounds each. But she never really complained. Sue loved her job. So when the winter of 1992 rolled around and a position opened up for a ramp supervisor, Sue jumped at the opportunity. This job came with a raise and more responsibility. Basically, she'd be making sure the airplanes were safely loaded, fueled, and serviced

for their on-time departure. But things were complicated. Yeah, so a man in Sue's union applied for the job too. And even though Sue had seniority, she was passed over for the position. position. He was given the job instead. But here's part of why I admire Sue. She really stood up for herself. She filed a grievance with her union, claiming the airline was violating its rules by denying her the promotion. And Sue won. After three years as a ground service employee, Sue was awarded the Ramp Supervisor promotion in February 1992. She again became the first female in that position with Northwest Airlines at Logan International. But what Sue saw as a victory, her male co-workers saw a threat. Sue's colleague and ally Joseph Snow said some of the other men didn't want a woman for a

boss and thought ramped supervisor should be a man's job. But that didn't stop Sue from going into work every day and standing up for what was right. I know this conversation all too well, Sarah. Right. I can definitely relate to Sue here. I mean, there's sometimes like this added pressure to prove that you belong in a workspace as a woman and deserve to be taken seriously. And I feel like that shouldn't happen, but it does all too frequently. Yeah, I mean, even though this was back in the early 90s, I feel like it's very applicable today, unfortunately. And I think it's just really complicated. It's not just about job promotions or being successful in your position. It's also about safety, as we'll come to know in this case.

Oh, for sure. And honestly, like, we've had a lot of discussion about it as, you know, years go on. But, I mean, in 1992, I can imagine that pressure was probably even stronger. And I don't know, I feel like for Sue, taking that job probably, felt really empowering, but like you said, it also meant stepping into a world that wasn't always welcoming or even safe for women. Exactly. And to be clear, Sue didn't imagine spending her entire life working at Logan. She had other dreams, like she hoped to one day become a cartoonist herself, or maybe even a firefighter. In fact, Sue took her firefighter placement exam after her ramp supervisor promotion. She got high scores and was placed eighth on the reserve list for the

Swamp-Scott Fire Department, which meant she would be eighth in line if more jobs opened up. Then, two months after her promotion, around April 1982, she started to make some life changes. Something is happening in Dawson Creek. A wave of violence has swept over this community of just 13,000 people. It's like the kind of stuff you only hear about on TV. 15 murders in the last five years. Some criminals, I put them into the category of supervillains. I'm Timothy Sawa and from CBC's Oncover and the Fifth Estate, an investigation into deaths and disappearances in Dawson Creek, and what's behind it all.

I'm not saying another word. Leave me alone. The Mile Zero Murders, available now on CBC Listen or wherever you get your podcasts. In the spring of 1992, Sue broke up with her longtime boyfriend, who also worked at Logan for an aircraft fuel supply company. Supposedly, the breakup was mutual and the two remained friends. At the same time, Sue joined the... the Boston Church of Christ, which was a fundamentalist church. Religion had always been a part of Sue's life. Her family had been going to another church for years, and Sue didn't want to leave the

other one either, so she was a member of both churches. But her friends and coworkers saw the way that she got swept up in her new congregation. Every Thursday night, Sue attended Bible meetings, and she went directly from her night shift on Saturday to Sunday morning services held in a hotel ballroom. There are some who say that the Boston Church of Christ members can become so consumed with the organization that it causes riffs in their relationships. But while Sue ended things with her boyfriend around the time she joined the church,

friends don't think the two were related. Still, Sue was looking to get others to join as well. And that search for convert supposedly made some people uneasy. She invited people to join the church regularly, and some of her coworkers teased her for it. But no matter what people said, Sue was committed to that community. She sacrificed her own sleep to care for elderly church members, babysit members' children,

and offered people rides to Bible study classes. I don't know. I've never been super religious growing up, but I can understand how religion can bring people a sense of peace, purpose, and community, you know, that they might not find elsewhere. Have you, were you religious or are you religious now? No, I was never really religious growing up, but I'm not now, so I can't exactly relate to this.

But, I mean, in my eyes, it looks like a good thing. If they can't confirm that it's, you know, made these or any type of negative impact on her life, all I see is a positive here. She seems to be helping people. She seems to be really into it. I don't see anything negative about this. Neither do I. And like, I know some people were maybe talking about her suddenly changing religions or maybe

joining a different church, but there are all sorts of reasons why people might do that. For one, if people are going through a difficult time, that could be. a big reason why people will turn to religion. I mean, from what we've gathered from the story, it kind of sounds like Sue's, you know, workplace environment is not the best, you know. She's getting passed over for promotions that she should have definitely gotten. It just doesn't seem great. And as we get deeper into the story, it just kind of gets worse. So I feel like her turning to religion is not a bad thing. Absolutely. I think also we have to keep in mind that this is 1992. So, like, remove all the time you spend scrolling on your phone. Like, what do you do to make up

that time? I think a big factor here, too, is just it seems like she had an abundance of time to do these things. But when Sue isn't at church, she's at the airport. And that's what brings us to Saturday, September 12th, 1992. Sue works the graveyard shift from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. That night, she volunteers to pick up sandwiches for her crew from a restaurant in Revere, the next town over, about three to five miles away. Around 1 a.m. on Sunday, September 13th, she receives a call. After she hangs up the phone, Sue leaves the airport, but she never picks up the food order.

And when Sue doesn't come back from her sandwich run, her coworkers don't report her missing. Instead, they do something a little bit strange. They clock her back in from her break, then punch her out when her shift ends later that morning. They even clock her in one more time that evening for her next graveyard shift. Meanwhile, Sue's mom assumes she isn't coming home because she's working overtime, and because of that, nobody reports Sue missing for the first 30 hours she's gone. At 7.30 a.m. on Monday, September 14, 1992, 30 hours since Susan Terescoitz left to pick up sandwiches. That's when a mechanic finds her blue Toyota Tercell.

It's parked in the lot out front of Bravo Automotive, an auto body shop on Route 1A in Revere near the airport. The mechanic notices blood dripping from the trunk and immediately calls the police. When they arrive on scene, they open the trunk to find something incredibly upsetting. Sue's body is inside. She appears to been beaten and stabbed to death. She's fully clothed and there doesn't appear to be signs of sexual assault. The money for sandwiches is still with Sue's employee badge in her purse on the front seat, which suggests she never even made it to the restaurant.

Only one thing is missing. A 16-inch gold chain necklace with three charms, two religious and one Snoopy. Phoenix has bizarre crime. The canals of Phoenix, Arizona are hunted by a serial killer. People are like, well, are we safe? These are sexual saints. Two grisly homicides. I know I didn't kill anyone.

But solving these murders is just the beginning. That can't be his first rodeo. This is season six of American nightmares, the Canal Nassies. The Canal Murders. Out now, wherever you get your podcasts. Sue's car was found just 300 feet away from a place called the Esquire Club. It's a popular bar with airline employees. Sue used to hang out there occasionally with her ex-boyfriend, the one who worked for the aircraft fuel supply company. But according to an anonymous bartender, Sue wasn't at the bar the night she disappeared. In fact, she hadn't been there in six months. Since about the time she ended things with her ex-boyson.

What do you think about the location of her car being found, Sarah? I mean, I don't know. I think it's definitely something to look at. It just seems like a big mystery in this case for me. I agree, but I feel like the location of her car is kind of telling because it's near a bar that all of the airline employees kind of used to go to pretty frequently. I don't know. When I first learned that, my mind immediately went to someone within that environment possibly being involved. And that totally could be completely coincidental. but it is just kind of like a strong coincidence to me.

And also, I am really curious about the missing necklace. I want to know more about it. Like, was it expensive? Was it super sentimental to her? I don't know. Why would someone take that? And I just definitely think it could be a big clue because it seems like that is the only thing missing.

Yeah, I want to know where the cameras are. Even in 1992, I mean, airports were still heavily regulated. I feel like there's just more to this puzzle that we don't know about. because obviously, I mean, somebody else handled her vehicle, and if it hasn't been parked near there, she hasn't gone near there in six months, I definitely think it's something to look into. Sue's ex-boyfriend is an early suspect,

and while police interview hundreds of Sue's friends and airport employees, he's one of the only notable people who refuses to be questioned. But the police don't seem to come up with much on him, or anyone for that matter. In fact, he's cleared later on in the investigation. Meanwhile, Sue's family, spends over a year mourning their loss. Her mom Marlene is so devastated, she can't even go into Sue's room. She tells herself that she has to sooner or later, and it would be nice to have

something special from Sue to put out for the holidays. So, around Christmas of 1993, Marlene finally goes in. When Marlene looks in Sue's closet, she sees a briefcase, so she opens it and finds a diary. What Marlene reads in there changes her perspective on Sue's job and murder entirely. She knew that Sue ran into some issues with her male co-workers, the ones who didn't want a female boss, but she had no idea how deep those issues went. Sue's entries vividly described the harassment she experienced on the job, a lot of which she never mentioned to her family. For example, on April 12, 1989, three years before Sue's murder, she wrote about a coworker named Bobby. Apparently he'd picked up her small AM FM radio and threw it against the wall breaking it.

At the time, Sue was dating her boyfriend who worked at the airport, so he confronted Bobby about it, and he demanded that he replaced the radio. After that, Sue tried talking to Bobby herself, but Bobby was clearly not sorry. In a different incident, another one of Sue's male co-workers literally shoved her to the ground. Sue also wrote in her diary about some anonymous phone calls she received. Supposedly, they came in at all hours of the night, so she recorded them when she could. According to her diary, the men on her team called her the most offensive slurs they could come up with for a woman. They wrote obscene and cruel graffiti about her in the airport bathrooms, on her locker, on the sign-in board, on plane loading equipment, and airplane cargo compartments.

But Sue didn't let incidents like this slide. In 1989, she complained to the company about derogatory comments made by two male co-workers. Northwest fired them, but they appealed the termination through their union. It was approved, and they were rehired under a last-chance agreement. Even though little came of it, Sue continued to file formal complaints, both with Northwest Airlines management and her union. Still, neither did much to address the situation. They told her to let the incidents go. not to let her coworkers know they bothered her and to sit back and ignore it.

Not only did the company refuse to discipline the men who harassed Sue, they also retaliated. Sue's supervisors frequently assigned her to the lav truck, which was used to empty airplane toilets. This was considered a punishment because workers on the truck almost always got sprayed with human waste. Meanwhile, the abuse from her coworkers continued to escalate. Someone drew Sue naked in a sexual position inside the cargo hold of a plane. and death threats were made against co-workers who supported Sue.

People vandalized her car, her then-boyfriend's car, and the cars of her family and friends. One day, Sue complained because co-workers were calling her a particularly offensive word. The next day, someone retaliated by sneaking into the driveway of her family home, where they battered her sister's car and slashed its tires. And that wasn't the only act of vandalism that felt threatening. After Sue's promotion to ramp supervisor, someone drew a coffin inside her personal locker. And these are just a few of Sue's horror stories. Thank you for listening to the final hours.

We'll be back Wednesday with part two of Susan Tarascovic's case. In the meantime, we want to hear from you. Your thoughts, condolences, and feedback are what make this community so special. At Crimehouse, we value your support. Share your thoughts on social media and remember to rate, review, and follow the final hours to help others discover the show. And to enhance your listening experience, don't forget to join CrimeHouse. House Plus at Crimehouseplus.com. Or if you listen on Apple Podcasts, tap try free at the top of the final hour show page.

The Final Hours is hosted by Sarah Turney and me, Courtney Nicole, and is a Crimehouse Original powered by Pave Studios. This episode is brought to life by the Final Hours team. Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Benadon, Lori Marinelli, Natalie Pritzofsky, Sarah Camp, Alyssa Fox, Dana Rizel Solovey, and Russell Nash. Thank you for listening. Some mysteries have haunted us for centuries. Others are unfolding right now. How does a modern airliner with 239 people on board disappear from the sky without a trace?

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podcasts. Hi listeners, it's Vanessa. Are you the type to fall down an internet rabbit hole and not come up for hours? You'll love Crimes of Reddit, a new crimehouse original with Sabrina Deanna Roga and Alexis Linkletter. Every week, one host brings real true crime stories from Reddit, while the other reacts completely blind. No prep, no spoilers, then they swap.

It's the feeling of sending your group chat a threat at 2 a.m. that starts with you have to see this. Except Sabrina and Alexis are in the chat with you. Follow Crimes of Reddit on Apple Podcasts and Spotify or subscribe at Crimes of Reddit Pod on YouTube.