Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
Body from unsolved 1974 murder exhumed from North Shore cemetery
“What happened to Henry has never left this town."
A body was exhumed Wednesday from a cemetery in relation to the unsolved murder of a 15-year-old Swampscott boy in 1974.
Henry Bedard was last seen walking along Paradise Road in Swampscott on Dec. 16, 1974 after Christmas shopping in Vinnin Square, according to the Essex County District Attorney’s Office.
He was found dead under a pile of leaves in a ditch in the woods near Suffolk Avenue the next day by two adolescents. A baseball bat with unique markings was found nearby.
The autopsy of Bedard’s body discovered he had died from five distinct blows to the head.
A recent court order — “in response to information recently received” — allowed for the exhumation of Bedard’s body, according to the DA’s office.
Advertisement:
“Advances in forensic science and technology have led to new criminal investigative avenues that were not possible in the past,” Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker said in a statement. “We are hopeful that these advances will lead to significant evidence.”
“What happened to Henry has never left this town, and young or old, all of the community still talks about Henry and what happened on that fateful day,” Swampscott Chief of Police Ruben Quesada added.
Prior to his death, Bedard played baseball and football and worked at his father’s service station in Danvers, officials said.
Advertisement:
Anyone with information regarding Bedard’s murder should contact the Unresolved Case Unit at 1-855-MA-SOLVE or at [email protected].
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com