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DNA helps solve Connecticut cold case of woman found in shallow grave in 1974
“It is gratifying to have helped identify Linda and, most importantly, give her family some answers.”
Fifty years after the remains of a woman who was shot to death were found in a shallow grave in Connecticut, investigators have determined her identity.
Connecticut State Police said DNA helped lead investigators to her family. Police said on Wednesday she has been identified as Linda Sue Childers of Kentucky.
Connecticut State Police said the woman’s skeletal remains were found along with those of another victim in Ledyard on May 30, 1974 after troopers were given the location by a witness to a double murder that took place on Dec. 31, 1970.
According to police, the witness told police the individuals had been fatally shot, and shortly after the remains were found, the suspects in the double homicide were arrested and later convicted. Both people convicted are now dead, according to police.
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One of the victims, a woman, had gone by an alias and her identity had not been verified until recently. In 2011, the case information was entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, describing the unknown victim as a white woman between the ages of 18 and 30. A year later, DNA was entered in to the Combined DNA Index System, but there were no matches, State Police said.
Over the years, investigators had a few leads, but no success, according to police.
Then in 2022, DNA samples were sent to a private forensic genealogy company, and a highly likely family member — a sister — was identified in January of this year. The sister was contacted and investigators learned the victim had a daughter, who provided a DNA sample, resulting in the confirmed identity in February.
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“It is gratifying to have helped identify Linda and, most importantly, give her family some answers,” police said.
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