For more than five decades, investigators hoping to put a name to the body of a woman found in a wooded area in New Hampshire were stumped.
But with the help of recent DNA testing, state officials believe they have now determined her identity.authorities had identified the woman as Katherine Ann Alston, a 26-year-old resident of Boston at the time of her disappearance and death in 1971.
Over the last five decades, investigators made various attempts to identify the body found in Bedford, including by making a clay facial reconstruction to create an impression of the woman’s appearance. But a partnership between the New Hampshire State Police and the DNA Doe Project — a nonprofit that uses investigative genetic genealogy to identify unknown remains — ultimately led to her identification.
In 1971, Alston’s parents and siblings moved from Massachusetts to Texas, returning to where her father’s family was from. According to Formella, the Alston siblings had planned to meet Katherine at Logan International Airport for their flight to Texas. She never showed. In 1993 and again in 2006, New Hampshire State Police and the state’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner worked with experts in the field of clay facial reconstruction to create an impression of the mystery woman’s appearance. In 2020, the Cold Case Unit linked with forensic anthropologists to digitally reconstruct her face, the attorney general’s office said.
Formella said Alston was living at 35 Beacon St. in Boston at the time of her death, with a roommate named David Cormier. Investigators are hoping to speak with anyone who knew Alston or anyone associated with her — including Cormier.
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