Second arrest made in 1980 cold case murder of St. Clair County woman found dead in State Game Area

ST. CLAIR COUNTY (WWJ) — Police have made a second arrest in the decades-old cold case murder of a St. Clair County woman.

Anthony Harris, 63, of Port Huron, was arrested Tuesday and arraigned Wednesday on a charge of open murder in the 1980 homicide of Karen Umphrey. His arrest comes a little less than two months after 73-year-old Douglas Laming was charged in Umphrey’s murder.

Harris’ bond has been set at $2 million.

Officials with the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office say detectives and prosecutors “have done an extensive amount of investigating, research, and interviewing to make these arrests.”

Umphrey, 21, was found dead on Nov. 2, 1980 in the State Game Area of Beards Hills, an outdoor recreation area located in Clyde Township, just northwest of Port Huron.

At the time Laming was arrested, detectives said a combination of hard work over the last year and advancements and availability in DNA testing allowed lead Detective Ed Silver to make the breakthrough and get a match.

Othram, a company that specializes in forensic genetic genealogy, and the Michigan State Police were able to help uncover information that would’ve been impossible to find previously, authorities said.

Detectives said they interviewed people connected to both the suspect and the victim, which allowed them to make connections between the two. They also said the “diligence of investigators and utilization of scientific advancements, including those used by the MSP Forensic Science Laboratories and Othram, were integral to the identification of Karen Umphrey’s killer.”

Authorities have not released any specific details about Umphrey’s murder, including cause of death or whether she knew the suspects prior to the killing.