Latest news with #VeraBryant
The Independent
5 days ago
- The Independent
How police identified a boy decades after his body was found
A four-year-old boy, Carl Matthew Bryant, found murdered in Lorton, Virginia, in June 1972, has been identified over 50 years later using advanced DNA testing. Bryant died from blunt force trauma, but the exact circumstances leading to his death remain a mystery despite his identification. Police utilised advanced DNA testing and forensic-grade genome sequencing, including a few millimetres of hair, to trace his family and confirm his identity through his mother, Vera Bryant, whose body was exhumed. Detectives suspect Bryant's mother, Vera Bryant (now deceased), and her then-boyfriend, James Hedgepeth (also deceased), were involved in his murder. The case is further complicated by the disappearance and presumed murder of Bryant's six-month-old brother, James, whose body has never been found.
NZ Herald
6 days ago
- NZ Herald
‘Specks' of hair lead Fairfax police to ID boy found murdered 53 years ago
In 2003, the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children released a computer-generated sketch of Carl and was flooded with the most tips the organisation has ever received about a case in Virginia, said Brooke Wright, assistant police chief in Fairfax County. But every tip was a dead end. The next year, detectives with Fairfax County police's cold case squad were reviewing evidence from the original case file. They found 'little specks [of hair], like razor stubble,' said Melissa Wallace, a cold case detective. It was enough hair to test for a DNA match, but the search of a national database came up empty. Twelve years later, detectives attempted to exhume Carl's body for more DNA, but his tombstone had been washed away by a storm, Wallace said. The hair would be their only hope. The case sat cold for several more years, until detectives sent some of the hair to a California-based lab, Astrea Forensics. Astrea, which typically requires at least 2cm of hair – 10 times the amount police provided – for genetic testing, was able to build a DNA profile and link Carl to a Philadelphia woman named Vera Bryant. Vera Bryant died in 1980, but police interviews with family revealed she travelled to Virginia in June 1972 with her boyfriend, James Hedgepeth, and two sons – Carl, 4, and James, who was 6 months old. When Vera Bryant and Hedgepeth arrived, the children were nowhere to be found, White said. But neither was ever reported missing. Detectives had searched the Lorton area for days but never found another body, said White, especially because they didn't know to be looking for one. 'The baby may have been discarded along the route, but he has never been located,' she said. Hedgepeth was convicted of murder in 1962 for an unrelated case and was not the father of either boy, White said. Police are asking the public for any information that might help the investigation. 'Perhaps somebody witnessed something along that route that day, or maybe Vera or James confided in someone before they died,' Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said. 'Maybe another jurisdiction recovered a 6-month-old baby's remains and didn't have any way to tie it to this case.' Now that Carl Bryant's body has been identified, police said they hope to place a bench in his honour in the area they know he is buried in.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
4-year-old boy murdered in 1972 is finally ID'd, but mystery remains
A 4-year-old boy who was killed more than 50 years ago has finally been identified thanks to genetic genealogy -- but mysteries surrounding his murder, and what happened to his baby brother, remain. On June 13, 1972, the little boy's body was found under a bridge in Lorton, Virginia, according to Fairfax County police. He died from blunt force trauma and the case was ruled a homicide, police said. For over 50 years, police worked to find his name and what caused his tragic murder. Now, he's been identified as Carl Matthew Bryant, who died weeks after his 4th birthday, Fairfax County police announced on Monday. MORE: Wife of convicted Delphi murderer breaks her silence: 'My husband's not a monster' Authorities said the breakthrough came thanks to genetic genealogy, which uses an unknown person's DNA to trace his or her family tree. His DNA profile was obtained from just a few millimeters of hair, police said, and then genetic genealogy helped detectives track the little boy's family to Philadelphia. Through a relative, detectives zeroed in on Vera Bryant as the mother, police said. Vera Bryant died in 1980; her body was exhumed and DNA confirmed she was Carl's mom, police said. Detectives believe Vera Bryant and her boyfriend James Hedgepeth were involved in Carl's death, police said. Hedgepeth, who served time for murder before he started dating Vera Bryant, is also deceased, police said. MORE: Titan submersible implosion final report critical of CEO's inadequate oversight Although Carl has a name, police are now searching for his little brother. Vera Bryant had a 6-month-old boy named James Bryant, and detectives believe the missing baby was killed around the same time as his older brother, police said. In June 1972, Vera Bryant and James Hedgepeth traveled from Philadelphia to Hedgepeth's relatives in Middlesex County, Virginia. When the couple arrived, they didn't have her sons with them, police said. Over Thanksgiving in 1972, when the couple visited Vera Bryant's family in Philadelphia, Vera Bryant told them the children were in Virginia with Hedgepeth's family, police said. The couple never reported the boys missing, police added. MORE: New Jersey man missing for over 1 week in Grand Canyon: National Park Service Detectives believe James Bryant's body may have also been left along the couple's route between Philadelphia and Virginia in June 1972, police said. At a news conference on Monday, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis praised the detectives who did the "hard work" to identify Carl. "You still knock on doors, you still talk to family members, you still talk to potential witnesses," Davis said. He also highlighted the power of genetic genealogy, which he said allows the department to "bring closure far, far more often than we ever have." 'To see the extent of that boy's injuries and what he had suffered through, I'm happy to be here today announcing that at least we've identified him," detective Melissa Wallace added. "He can have his name, we can get him his name back on his gravestone and the family can have some semblance of closure or resolution." The homicide investigation is ongoing. The Fairfax County Police Department urges anyone with information to call its Major Crimes Bureau at 703-246-7800, option 2.
6 days ago
A 4-year-old boy killed in 1972 finally has a name. But what happened to his baby brother is still a mystery.
A 4-year-old boy who was killed more than 50 years ago has finally been identified thanks to genetic genealogy -- but mysteries surrounding his murder, and what happened to his baby brother, remain. On June 13, 1972, the little boy's body was found under a bridge in Lorton, Virginia, according to Fairfax County police. He died from blunt force trauma and the case was ruled a homicide, police said. For over 50 years, police worked to find his name and what caused his tragic murder. Now, he's been identified as Carl Matthew Bryant, who died weeks after his 4th birthday, Fairfax County police announced on Monday. Authorities said the breakthrough came thanks to genetic genealogy, which uses an unknown person's DNA to trace his or her family tree. His DNA profile was obtained from just a few millimeters of hair, police said, and then genetic genealogy helped detectives track the little boy's family to Philadelphia. Through a relative, detectives zeroed in on Vera Bryant as the mother, police said. Vera Bryant died in 1980; her body was exhumed and DNA confirmed she was Carl's mom, police said. Detectives believe Vera Bryant and her boyfriend James Hedgepeth were involved in Carl's death, police said. Hedgepeth, who served time for murder before he started dating Vera Bryant, is also deceased, police said. Although Carl has a name, police are now searching for his little brother. Vera Bryant had a 6-month-old boy named James Bryant, and detectives believe the missing baby was killed around the same time as his older brother, police said. In June 1972, Vera Bryant and James Hedgepeth traveled from Philadelphia to Hedgepeth's relatives in Middlesex County, Virginia. When the couple arrived, they didn't have her sons with them, police said. Over Thanksgiving in 1972, when the couple visited Vera Bryant's family in Philadelphia, Vera Bryant told them the children were in Virginia with Hedgepeth's family, police said. The couple never reported the boys missing, police added. Detectives believe James Bryant's body may have also been left along the couple's route between Philadelphia and Virginia in June 1972, police said. At a news conference on Monday, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis praised the detectives who did the "hard work" to identify Carl. "You still knock on doors, you still talk to family members, you still talk to potential witnesses," Davis said. He also highlighted the power of genetic genealogy, which he said allows the department to "bring closure far, far more often than we ever have." 'To see the extent of that boy's injuries and what he had suffered through, I'm happy to be here today announcing that at least we've identified him," detective Melissa Wallace added. "He can have his name, we can get him his name back on his gravestone and the family can have some semblance of closure or resolution." The homicide investigation is ongoing. The Fairfax County Police Department urges anyone with information to call its Major Crimes Bureau at 703-246-7800, option 2.
CBS News
6 days ago
- CBS News
1972 murder victim identified 50 years later as Carl Bryant, a 4-year-old boy from Philadelphia
A body found in a Washington, D.C. suburb more than 50 years ago has been identified as a 4-year-old boy from Philadelphia, police said this week. Fairfax County, Virginia, police said advanced DNA testing and genome sequencing led to a positive identification on the body of a juvenile homicide victim found in 1972 in a creek in Lorton, an area south of the capital just off Interstate 95. The boy was found June 13, 1972, in Massey Creek, and his cause of death was ruled to be blunt force trauma. Several efforts were made to get tips from the public on a possible identity for the boy, but there were no viable leads. Efforts to create a computer-generated sketch of how the boy looked and match strands of his hair to DNA existing in a national database were also not successful. Eventually, a small strand of hair was recovered from the remains and sent for a chance at genome sequencing, which turned out successful. "The lab, Astrea in California, had said that normally they require at least 2 centimeters of hair to do testing. And I said, 'Well, I don't know if I have even 2 millimeters of hair to send you,'" Detective Melissa Wallace said in a news conference Monday. "They said well, send it anyway and we'll see what we can do." From that tiny sample, Astrea was able to get a DNA profile that pointed to a Vera Bryant, who used to live in Philly. Vera Bryant's body was later exhumed to confirm the DNA link. On July 1, DNA from Vera's body was confirmed to match the remains found in Virginia. Investigators believe Vera and her boyfriend James Hedgepeth, both of whom are now dead, were involved in Carl's murder — and that Carl's infant brother James was killed around the same time. The killings are believed to have occurred somewhere between Philadelphia and Middlesex County, Virginia. Relatives told police that Vera Bryant was Carl's mother and that Carl disappeared after they left for Virginia in 1972. Police believe James Bryant's body could have been discarded somewhere along the route of the trip to Virginia. Authorities are still asking for help in the investigation — seeking tips from any law enforcement agency with unidentified infant remains from the 1970s, or any individual who remembers the family. Tipsters can contact the Fairfax County Police Department at 703-246-7800, option 2 or Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS.
