What to Know
- Authorities say a cranium discovered on banks of the Delaware River in Pennsylvania greater than 3 1/2 a long time in the past has been recognized as that of a person lengthy believed slain in New Jersey alongside along with his girlfriend, whose physique had been discovered in the river on the New Jersey facet the earlier 12 months.
- The Bucks County District Lawyer’s Workplace mentioned Monday that detectives and a non-public forensic DNA laboratory recognized the cranium discovered on the banks of the river in Morrisville in 1986 as that of Richard Thomas Alt, 31, final seen by his dad and mom on Christmas Eve in 1984 and reported lacking to Trenton police in early 1985.
- District Lawyer Matt Weintraub mentioned Alt and his girlfriend have been suspected murder victims in New Jersey. The loss of life of Laurie Suydam, who was discovered in the river in Trenton in April 1985, is taken into account an unsolved murder whereas Alt’s case has been a lacking individual’s case, a Mercer County prosecutor’s workplace spokesperson mentioned Monday.
Authorities say a cranium discovered on banks of the Delaware River in Pennsylvania greater than 3 1/2 a long time in the past has been recognized as that of a person lengthy believed slain in New Jersey alongside along with his girlfriend, whose physique had been discovered in the river on the New Jersey facet the earlier 12 months.
The Bucks County District Lawyer’s Workplace mentioned Monday that detectives and a non-public forensic DNA laboratory recognized the cranium discovered on the banks of the river in Morrisville in 1986 as that of Richard Thomas Alt, 31, final seen by his dad and mom on Christmas Eve in 1984 and reported lacking to Trenton police in early 1985.
District Lawyer Matt Weintraub mentioned Alt and his girlfriend have been suspected murder victims in New Jersey. The loss of life of Laurie Suydam, who was discovered in the river in Trenton in April 1985, is taken into account an unsolved murder whereas Alt’s case has been a lacking individual’s case, a Mercer County prosecutor’s workplace spokesperson mentioned Monday.
“I can’t even imagine wondering and worrying about a lost family member for even a day, let alone for 37 years. That wait is now over for Mr. Alt’s family,” Weintraub mentioned in a press release. “I’m simply glad that we may give them some peace of thoughts with this identification, and the eventual return of his stays to his household.
Weintraub expressed gratitude for technical experience supplied totally free by Texas-based Othram Inc., which used forensic genome sequencing and forensic genetic family tree to determine the cranium discovered by a fisherman in June 1986 on the banks of the river by the Morrisville Boat Ram.
The county coroner’s workplace entered the cranium into the Nationwide Missing and Unidentified Individuals System database. In September of final 12 months, detectives despatched the cranium to Othram after officers of the corporate primarily based in The Woodlands, Texas, mentioned that they had discovered a potential match on a public family tree database, prosecutors mentioned.
The DNA contributor, a 49-year-old Florida lady, instructed detectives Jan. 4 that she was 11 years previous when Alt, her father, went lacking in Trenton. She agreed to share her DNA outcomes from the family tree website with Othram, which 4 days later mentioned the mother or father/youngster relationship match had been confirmed, prosecutors mentioned.
Bucks County prosecutors mentioned they think about their investigation closed “due to lack of evidence of any crime being committed in Bucks County.”