Renewed hope in 51-year-old cold case mystery

HANOVER TWP., LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — A 51-year cold case mystery is once again the focus of a state police investigation. The remains of a woman found back in 1973 will once again be exhumed.

Police will return to a Luzerne County Cemetery in the hopes of finding clues that will solve this cold case once and for all.

State police investigators will return to Maple Hill Cemetery in several weeks to exhume the remains of the woman.

Their mission: Identify her and possibly determine how she was killed.

The I-Team was there in September of 2016 when state police investigators exhumed the remains of a woman from the Maple Hill Cemetery.

Her body was found along Interstate 80 near Hazleton in August of 1973.

Detectives say she was wrapped in a blanket and doused with sulfuric acid.

A computerized image of the woman was released about a month later. She is described as a black female between 20 and 30 years old, about four feet two inches tall, and weighing about 100 pounds.

However, law enforcement was unable to identify her or determine how she died.

Now, troopers say they are armed with major advancements in DNA technology that wasn’t available just eight years ago.

“So law enforcement authorities are hopeful that this time when the body is exhumed they will be able to get a sufficient DNA sample to enter into a national DNA database and potentially link this person to family members,” said Luzerne County Assistant District Attorney Carl Frank.

“We have the tools those tools have gotten much better. It’s a matter of using them correctly to find answers,” forensic pathologist Dr. Mary Pascucci explained.

Dr. Pascucci has investigated thousands of deaths. She is not connected to this investigation but says DNA technology today is light years ahead of where it was just eight years ago.

“A lot of these folks that are part of ancestry, 23 and me, and taking your swab submitting it, and we’re finding a lot about family and family history and genetics. That pool has grown exponentially,” Dr. Pascussi explained.

“Does it give you hope for families who might otherwise thought it was a done deal that they would never know what happened to their loved ones?” 28/22 News Reporter Andy Mehalshick asked.

“Absolutely. I think this is going to give closure to a lot more folks than before,” Dr. Pascussi replied.

These investigations are very expensive as they cost about $10,000. A federal grant was used to pay for this case.

Investigators are expected to return to Maple Hill Cemetery later this month.

28/22 News will stay on top of it and will have more information in the days and weeks ahead.

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