20-Year-Old Balmville, New York Murder Still Unsolved, What Happened to Yvonne Torch?

It's been 20 years since Yvonne Torch was murdered at her hair salon in Balmville, New York.

Little to no leads were found during the initial investigation, leaving police and the Torch family still wondering what happened on that day in June 2004.

Who was Yvonne Torch?

Dateline NBC has been following the case of Yvonne Torch's murder for some time now. In a 2022 interview with her husband Pierre, they learned more about the Orange County, New York wife, and mother.

Pierre tells Dateline he started dating Yvonne in 1990 and married her in 1991, but Pierre and Yvonne's families have known each other for years. He explained to Dateline that he worked alongside Yvonne's father at the Middle Hope Fire Department as a Volunteer firefighter.

The 2 had 2 daughters, Ashley (Yvonne's daughter from a previous relationship) and Tiffany who was born in 1993.

Once they settled down, Yvonne went to cosmetology school and received her cosmetology license. She began to look for chairs to rent at local salons, but according to Pierre, that was a bit of a challenge because she didn't have a following.

So Yvonne opened up her own salon in 1994, with some help from her husband, called His and Hers on Route 9W Newburgh, New York.

The business was doing quite well for over a decade when Yvonne and Pierre started thinking about moving to Florida in an attempt to live out their Disney dreams.

Sadly, those dreams were cut short.

What Happened to Yvonne Torch in June 2004?

On June 9th, 2004, Yvonne Torch headed to work at His and Hers Salon on Route 9W in Balmville, New York. Around 10 am Yvonne's husband's grandmother came into the studio to get her hair done.

The following appointment came in at 11 am and found Torch dead on the salon floor.

Pierre said when he first got news from his Stepmother, who was a local volunteer firefighter at the Middle Hope Fire Department, that someone had died at the salon, he thought it was one of Yvonne's older clients. He tells Dateline "I was just totally dumbfounded about the whole thing.”

He told Dateline that, initially, he thought Yvonne’s death was an accident hearing from those at the scene that Yvonne must have hit her head. However, once he received her death certificate a few days later he realized it was something more serious.

Speaking to Dateline Pierre stated that he realized his wife had been murdered adding:

“The death certificate said blunt force trauma."

The lead investigator on the case in 2022 Matthew Schaffer told Dateline Yvonne was killed on June 9th, 2004 between 10:40 am and 10:55 am.

Balmville, New York Murder Goes Unsolved For 20 Years

Sadly, since that day in June 2004, there have been no leads in Yvonne Torch's case. According to Dateline, "leads were scarce." At the beginning investigators, questioned Pierre Torch for upwards of 3 weeks, but quickly ruled him out.

Schaffer told Dateline in 2022 “there were a lot of possibilities”  of who could have murdered Yvonne but they “never really narrowed down” the list."

If you have any information on what happened on that tragic day in 2004, contact the New York State Police at (845) 344-5370 or e-mail crimetip@troopers.ny.gov.

Take a look at 13 other cold case stories and unsolved mysteries across the Hudson Valley below: