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They now know the Connecticut resident's name, but who killed the 28-year-old and left her out there remains a mystery.
Patricia Ann Tucker was identified as the "Granby Girl" at a press conference on Monday, March 6. Northwestern Massachusetts First Assistant District Attorney Steven E. Gagne announced the findings with some of Tucker's family in attendance.
Gagne said investigators IDed the 28-year-old mother of two using new investigative techniques after they submitted her DNA to Othram labs.
Scientists there matched her genetic material to that of her 50-year-old son Matthew Dale, who'd uploaded his DNA profile to Ancestory.com, the prosecutor said.
Tucker's body was found in November 1978. She'd been shot in the head, and someone dragged her body into the woods using a man's belt, authorities said. Gagne called her husband — Gerald "Jerry" Coleman — a "person of strong interest" in the case. He never even reported his wife missing.
The couple married in Middletown, in Middlesex County, Connecticut, in 1977 and lived in Lake Pocotopaug in the town of East Hampton, also in Middlesex County — a short drive from where her body was found. Gagne said Coleman had a lengthy criminal history.
Coleman died in a Massachusetts prison in 1996 on a rape and assault conviction.
Tucker was buried with a white cross in 1978 that said "unknown girl." Twenty years later, several people contributed to a campaign to buy her an actual headstone that read "unknown."
Her son Matthew Dale plans to move her to a plot at the West Street cemetery with a proper grave marker.
Dale attended Monday's press conference, but he didn't take any questions or speak to reporters. He released a statement thanking the community for "never giving up" on his mom.
First I would like to say thank you to everyone in trying to identify my mother and wrapping your arms around her, especially the community of Granby. Thank you for never giving up on her. At least I have some answers now after 44 years. It’s a lot to process, but hopefully, the closure can begin now. Thank you again.
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