PostedJanuary 11, 2023, 06:56
United StatesWoman found murdered in 1971 finally identified
DNA analyzes revealed that the body found more than 50 years ago was that of Kathy Alston. But his family never reported him missing.
A cast had been made from the features of the corpse. On the right is a photo of Kathy Alston.
DNA Doe/Police of New Hampshire
On October 6, 1971, a body was discovered in the woods of Bedford, New Hampshire (USA). It is that of a woman, dead for about three months and victim of a homicide, reveals the investigation. His age is estimated between 20 and 40 years old. The New Hampshire police will not be able to identify him.
Having exhausted all possible leads, she ended up appealing in February 2020 to the DNA Doe project. This is a non-profit organization that tries to identify the bodies of strangers using DNA. She finally managed to put a name to Bedford’s corpse, thanks to a genetic match with one of the victim’s siblings, explains CBS.
A hidden file
A member of this family had uploaded their DNA to a genealogy research site in 2019. DNA Doe visited this site in 2020 but did not find a match, because this file was classified as “excluded” from consultation by the forces of the order. Then this site changed its policy in January 2021, making its entire database accessible. It was only by going back there that DNA Doe finally found a match.
The victim was therefore called Katherine Ann Alston, known as Kathy. Born in 1945 in Chelsea, Massachusetts, she was 26 at the time of her death. But what also explains why it took so long to identify her, is that she was never reported missing, by anyone. She had been married in 1967, but divorced. Her ex-husband died today.
She misses the goodbyes to her family
She was the eldest of several siblings, but all of her family except her moved to Texas in the late summer of 1971. Kathy was supposed to come and say goodbye to them at the airport, but she didn’t is never shown there. Investigators wanted to know why his family had not reported the disappearance. But the parents died and her siblings just said that after moving out they never saw or spoke to Kathy again. “I don’t know what the family dynamic was between her and her parents,” said Benjamin Agati, senior assistant attorney general.
At the time of her death, Kathy Alston was living with a Boston roommate, David Cormier. Why didn’t he announce his disappearance either? The police are looking for him and anyone who knew him, including students from Boston University between 1963 and 1967. Because if the victim has been identified, now remains to find his killer.