Police Still Probing 1978 Murders At Western NY Ski Resort

OLEAN, N.Y. (AP) — It's been nearly four decades since two men were found murdered at a now-defunct ski resort in western New York, and the unsolved case remains open.

State police are still investigating the shooting deaths of 30-year-old Stephen Bender and 29-year-old Michael Forness on Feb. 6, 1978 at the old Wing Hollow Ski Resort in the Cattaraugus County town of Allegany, near the Pennsylvania border 60 miles south of Buffalo.

The bodies of the two night-time trail groomers were found in the early-morning hours, and a floor safe containing about $18,000 had been removed from the ski lodge. The safe was empty when it was later recovered beneath a bridge over the Allegheny River.

The resort closed in the early 1980s.

Anyone with information is asked to call state police in Olean (OH'-lee-an) at 716-373-2552.

[STORY BY: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS]