Skull Found In PA Pond Was That Of 2004 Attempted Murder Suspect, Officials Say

The skull was found by a child in a body of water near Pine Lane in April 2022, the District Attorney's Office wrote in a release Wednesday, Jan. 31. Two follow-up searches of the pond turned up no other human remains, authorities said. 

Investigators believed the skull was that of Roger Hart, a former Pottstown resident who went missing in 2004 after he was charged with trying to kill his wife at their home. Hart fled the scene and was last spotted leaving his car and entering a wooded area near the pond in April of that year, according to prosecutors. 

The skull was sent to Mercyhurst University in Erie, where anthropologists determined it belonged to an adult man and had been exposed to the elements for over 10 years, officials said. 

Advanced DNA testing conducted by Pennsylvania State Police and the FBI later confirmed the skull belonged to Hart, the DA's Office said. His cause of death could not be determined "(b)ased on the condition of this skull and the lack of additional skeletal remains," the release says. 

Amity police, Berks County detectives, and the Berks County Coroner's Office also assisted in the investigation. 

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