Bland's jewelry was not taken, but her family told detectives that her MetroCard and pocketbook were missing. Detectives at first theorized the items were snatched from her by a heartless thief as she lay dying after falling down the stairs of the station. In late November, however, the medical examiner told police Bland was murdered. The examiner was also able to tell by Bland's injuries, which included brain hemorrhaging and a broken facial bone, that she was beaten to death, not thrown down the stairs. Even though Bland was attacked shortly before noon, in the station at West 155th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue, no witnesses have stepped forward.
Detectives are at a loss for leads.
Police pamphlets that were circulated throughout the neighborhood asking for the public's help proved fruitless, as did interviews with residents at a nearby homeless shelter. The lack of answers has only added to the suffering of Bland's relatives, who just three days before her death had feted the family matriarch with a birthday dinner. Bland rarely took the subway, preferring the bus, but at her wake, attended by scores of friends from her Washington Heights building, one friend said Bland went to the station to replenish her MetroCard. Police traced the card's activity, only to find it has not been used since her death. Assuming she was the victim of a robbery, Bland likely fought back, her family said.