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Lehigh Valley Gym Coach's Unsolved Murder Gets New Look

Decades after she was found murdered in her Emmaus home, state police are still seeking Barbara Marie Solt's killer. 

Lincoln Elementary School in Emmaus; Barbara Marie Solt

Lincoln Elementary School in Emmaus; Barbara Marie Solt

Photo Credit: Google Maps (Street View) / Inset: Pennsylvania State Police

The 27-year-old was a popular physical education teacher and sports coach at Lincoln Elementary School for five years before she was found murdered apartment on Nov. 17, 1982. 

According to an archival report from the Allentown Morning Call, Solt's body was found by her principal Joseph Pavone, who stopped by her Colonial Crest apartment after she didn't show for work. 

She had been stabbed more than 10 times and had been sexually assaulted, the newspaper reported. 

Investigators believed Solt was killed the night before, but no sign of forced entry was found at the scene, per the Morning Call. State police say the young teacher had been out shopping and eating with family members that night. 

Lehigh Valley native and convicted serial killer and rapist Timothy Wayne Krajcir — who eventually confessed to murdering nine women across three states — was questioned in connection with Solt's slaying but always maintained his innocence, and no evidence to the contrary has ever surfaced, according to the newspaper. 

Solt, too, was a Lehigh Valley native, investigators say. She was a 1973 graduate of Dieruff High School in Allentown and attended Lock Haven State College before finding work in East Penn schools. 

Anyone with information on her murder is asked to call the Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers at 1-800-472-8477 or submit an anonymous tip via Crimewatch.

A $5,000 reward is offered for tips that lead to a break in the case. 

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