A human skull found on the banks of the Delaware River in 1986 was positively identified this month by detectives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, officials announced Monday.
Richard Thomas Alt was last seen by his parents on Christmas Eve 1984. His family reported him missing in early 1985 and his girlfriend’s body was discovered on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River in April of that year. .
Both Alt and his girlfriend are believed to be victims of a homicide.
Richard Thomas Alt was 31 years old when his parents last saw him on Christmas Eve 1984.
(Bucks County District Attorney’s Office)
Alt’s skull was found by a fisherman in June 1986 near the Morrisville boat ramp. The remains went unidentified for decades until Bucks County detectives shipped the skull to Othram Inc., a private DNA forensics lab in Texas, in September 2022.
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Lab scientists matched the skull to someone who uploaded their DNA profile to a public genealogy database. That couple ended up being the daughter of Alt, who was just 11 years old when her father disappeared.
“I am pleased that we can give them some peace of mind with this identification and the eventual return of his remains to his family,” Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub said in a statement.
“I hope this powerful combination of technology and genealogy becomes the template for solving current and cold cases now and in the future.”
Richard Thomas Alt’s skull was found on the banks of the Delaware River in 1986.
(Bucks County District Attorney’s Office)
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Law enforcement has turned to genetic genealogy research to solve hundreds of cold cases in recent years, including that of Golden State Killer Joseph James DeAngelo.
Detectives have also been using genetic genealogy during their investigations of the current cases. The FBI reportedly used the new investigative method to zero in on Bryan Kohberger as a suspect in the murders of four University of Idaho students last year.
