The Palm Beach County Police in Florida have identified the body of Susan Poole, a 15-year-old girl who was found dead in 1974 and asked for the help of the population to find the mother of the victim, who is known to be still alive, to break the news.
The girl who was found tied to a tree in the mangroves of an area known as Burnt Bridges in 1974, was identified almost 50 years later thanks to advances in technology, police said at a press conference.
Detective Bill Springer has identified the victim as Susan Poole and has asked the public for a “clue” to find the young woman’s mother, who is over 90 years old, in order to bring “peace” to the family.
The investigation indicates that Poole could have been the victim of a serial killer, a former police officer named Gerard Schaefer, who has since died and is believed to have killed around twenty girls and young people.
Police also want to speak to three friends who lived near the victim, whose family reported her missing on Christmas 1972 in nearby Fort Lauderdale.
When she disappeared, the girl lived with her parents and several siblings in a house from which she had previously fled, although it is unknown if this was the case or if she was kidnapped by her murderer.
The Police hope that the friends can give some new clue about this crime, although they already have a theory about what happened.
Upon finding Poole’s body, authorities took DNA samples and entered them into the national database for unidentified persons.
However, it was not until late last year that experts from the company Othram Lab carried out genealogical tests on Poole’s remains, analyzes that resulted in the identification of the victim.
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