Still No Arrest 3 Years After Monique Yanulavich’s Murder

Three years after Monique Yanulavich was found stabbed to death in a bank parking lot in upstate New York, her daughter is on a relentless mission to find the man police believe is responsible.

New York State Police are searching for Larry Hicks Jr. (left and right), accused in the July 2022 murder of Monique Yanulavich (center).

Larry Hicks Jr., a 47-year-old construction worker from North Carolina, has been on the run since Yanulavich’s 2022 killing in Clinton County, according to New York State Police.

Despite an active murder indictment and a multi-agency investigation, his whereabouts remain unknown. Troopers renewed calls for tips in the case on Monday, July 14, the three-year anniversary of Yanulavich’s death.

“The New York State Police are committed to solving this case and ensuring justice for the Yanulavich family,”

A Frantic Search

Yanulavich was last seen on July 14, 2022. After she failed to show up for work, her daughter, Quiana Nephew, began calling and driving to her mother’s Plattsburgh home.

Right away, Nephew noticed that her mom’s car was not in the parking lot. What was there, near where her car was usually parked, was Yanulavich’s Fitbit. The device appeared to have been ripped off her arm, Nephew told

In Pursuit with John Walsh

in May 2024.

“She wore her Fitbit all the time,” Nephew said in the episode. “I just knew something was wrong.”

Later that evening, family members and police located Yanulavich’s vehicle in the parking lot of Champlain National Bank on Route 3. Inside, they found her body. An autopsy determined she had suffered multiple stab wounds and her death was ruled a homicide.

The Man Police Blame

Hicks, a construction worker Monique met at a shopping mall in 2019, is believed to be responsible, according to New York State Police. The couple had dated off and on, with relatives describing the relationship as volatile.

“My first instinct of Larry, as soon as he opened his mouth, was: this is a narcissist and he’s not for you,” Yanulavich’s aunt, Starr Carroll, said on

In Pursuit.

Nephew, aware of the domestic violence allegations, drove to North Carolina in May 2022 to help Yanulavich leave Hicks after he allegedly choked and knocked her unconscious. In a social media post, Nephew recalled warning Hicks, “You’ll leave my mother alone, and you better not bother her.” Weeks later, Monique was dead.

In a May 2025 post on a

memorial Facebook page

, Newphew said Hicks was last tracked using burner phones in the months following the murder. Police have followed leads, she wrote, and are “currently working on a potential lead… but keep praying it ends the way we want it to!”

Hicks’ Troubled Past

This is not Hicks’ first time being accused of violence. In 2008, he pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the strangulation death of his 25-year-old sister-in-law in South Carolina. He was sentenced to five years in prison after initially being charged with murder, according to the Hartsville Messenger.

A Victim Remembered

Yanulavich was born in Plattsburgh and grew up in West Chazy. She graduated from Beekmantown High School in 1996 and worked at Chazy Orchards and various local hotels before being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, according to

her obituary

.

She loved walking, going on cruises, and spending time with her children, grandchildren, and dog, Dixie. She is survived by her daughter Quiana and son Ryley Rafalko.

How To Help

Hicks, of Tabor City, North Carolina, has since fled New York, according to police. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call the New York State Police at 518-563-3761.

“Monique Yanulavich and her family deserve justice,” the agency said.