MORRISVILLE, Pa. — Authorities say a skull found 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 found in the river on the New Jersey facet the earlier 12 months.
The Bucks County district legal professional’s workplace mentioned Monday that detectives and a non-public forensic DNA laboratory recognized the skull found on the banks of the river in Morrisville in 1986 as that of Richard Thomas Alt, 31, final seen by his mother and father on Christmas Eve in 1984 and reported lacking to Trenton police in early 1985.
District Attorney Matt Weintraub mentioned Alt and his girlfriend have been suspected murder victims in New Jersey. The dying of Laurie Suydam, who was found 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 an announcement. “I’m just glad that we could give them some peace of mind with this identification, and the eventual return of his remains to his family.”
Weintraub expressed gratitude for technical experience supplied free of charge by Texas-based Othram Inc., which used forensic genome sequencing and forensic genetic family tree to establish the skull found by a fisherman in June 1986 on the banks of the river by the Morrisville Boat Ram.
The county coroner’s workplace entered the skull into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System database. In September of final 12 months, detectives despatched the skull to Othram after officers of the corporate based mostly in The Woodlands, Texas, mentioned that they had found a attainable match on a public family tree database, prosecutors mentioned.
The DNA contributor, a 49-year-old Florida lady, advised detectives Jan. 4 that she was 11 years outdated when Alt, her father, went lacking in Trenton.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 father or mother/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.”