FBI exhumes body of murdered Baltimore woman from 'The Keepers' documentary

The FBI on Thursday exhumed the remains of a murdered Baltimore woman featured in Netflix's "The Keepers," a documentary series about a Catholic nun's 1969 cold-case murder.

Joyce Malecki of Baltimore disappeared from a Baltimore-area mall while Christmas shopping in November 1969 and was found dead days later near a military base when she was 20 years old. An autopsy concluded that she died of strangulation.

"The FBI conducted an exhumation at Loudon Park Cemetery regarding the murder investigation of Joyce Malecki," FBI Baltimore told Fox News Digital in a statement. "We remain committed to bringing justice for Joyce and her family. Because the investigation is ongoing, we cannot provide any additional information."

FBI Baltimore thanked "the Malecki family for their support as well as Loudon Park Cemetery, the Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, and the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office for their assistance."

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"The Keepers" documentary series, released in 2017, follows the 1969 disappearance and murder of Sister Catherine Cesnik, a 26-year-old nun and teacher at Archbishop Keough High School, a Catholic girls' school, and her students as they work to find out what happened to Cesnik. 

An autopsy report confirmed that Cesnik died of blunt-force trauma to the head.

The documentary also discusses sexual abuse allegations made against Baltimore Catholic priest the Rev. Joseph Maskell, then the chaplain at Archbishop Keough High School who was accused of sexual abuse and booted from St. Clement Catholic Church.

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Those close to Malecki's case believe her murder, which occurred days after Cesnik's, may have been related due to similarities in the two cases.

In March this year, Maryland authorities closed the case of Pamela Lynn Conyers, a 16-year-old who disappeared on Oct. 16, 1970, from the same mall where Malecki vanished the year prior. Three days later, her body was found in a wooded area of Anne Arundel County. A medical examiner concluded that Conyers died of "asphyxiation due to strangulation," the Anne Arundel County Police Department said in a press release at the time.

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Police tied DNA from a man named Forrest Clyde Williams III, who died in 2018, to Conyers' murder.

Malecki's exhumation on Thursday may allow authorities to collect and test DNA to help solve her murder case.

"I know this is painful for the Malecki family. I wish there was some way to ease that."

— Abbie Fitzgerald Schaub

"I am very pleased the FBI is investing in this and hope it yields info on the identity of the perpetrator," Abbie Fitzgerald Schaub, one of Cesnik's former students who has been trying to uncover the details of her murder, told Fox News Digital in a statement. "I’m not biased who that might be – just would like to know the truth of what happened."

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In 2017 — the same year the docuseries was released — authorities also exhumed Maskell's remains in an effort to determine if his DNA might be tied to any evidence at the scene of Cesnik's murder, but testing did not yield a match.

Malecki attended a church outside Baltimore where Maskell once served as a priest. Her family also lived down the road from Maskell when he was living in the St. Clement Catholic Church rectory.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore "first received an allegation of sexual abuse against Maskell in 1992, more than 20 years after the abuse occurred," according to a former FAQ page that addressed questions stemming from "The Keepers."

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"Upon receipt of the initial allegation in 1992, the adult survivor and her attorney were encouraged to report the matter to civil authorities and the survivor was offered counseling assistance. Maskell was removed from ministry and referred for evaluation and treatment," the archdiocese said. "He denied the allegation, underwent months of evaluation and treatment, and was returned to ministry in 1993 after the Archdiocese was unable to corroborate the allegation of sexual abuse through its own investigation and conversations with attorneys representing the individual who initially came forward."

The church reported the sexual abuse allegations to authorities in 1993 "when the Attorney General clarified Maryland law as requiring reporting of child abuse even when the alleged victim was an adult and did not want the allegation to be reported."

When more people came forward with allegations against Maskell in 1994, "he was permanently prohibited from public ministry," the archdiocese said.

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In April 2023, the Maryland Attorney General's Office published a report that addressed decades of sexual abuse claims against more than 100 leaders serving the Baltimore Catholic Church following a grand jury investigation. 

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"Joseph Maskell was moved from two parishes in the 1960s because of reports of troubling behavior with children, including a fascination with the sexual fantasies and behavior of boy scouts and 'having young girls in the rectory under suspicious circumstances.' Not only were the reports by multiple parents not investigated, reported to authorities, or publicized, he was assigned to be Chaplain at Archbishop Keough High School, an all-girls’ school. Maskell sexually abused at least 39 victims," the report states.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.