"When they called me, I have to say I was in shock," the victim's sister, Kathy Kupka said. "It was shocking, just a call out of the blue. I've been waiting for it for years."
Kupka's been waiting since 1998 for news on whoever killed her sister. And this week, police are hoping they're closer to finding an answer, searching beneath the cement floor of a business on Liberty Avenue in Jamaica.
Kristina Kupka was a 28-year-old student at Baruch College who was 5 months pregnant when she disappeared in October of 1998. Her family and friends last saw her with Darshanand "Rudy" Persaud, her professor at the time, who was married but believed to be the father of her unborn child. Gil Alba is a private investigator who has interviewed hundreds of people about the case.
"I think he holds the key to this investigation," Alba said, adding that he thinks Persaud was involved.
And for years, Persaud's relatives owned a business at that address. Police asked to search, but they were never allowed. Now, the business has finally changed hands.
Rudy Persaud, still married and now a dentist in Tampa, Florida, did not respond to Eyewitness News' request for a comment.
As Kupka's sister insists, there was certainly motive for murder.
"He desperately wanted her to have an abortion, and she became afraid of him," Kathy Kupka said.
Police are continuing their search at the business.
