50 years later, remains in Connecticut homicide case identified

LEDYARD, Conn. (WTNH) -- A 50-year-old mystery has been solved by DNA testing, according to Connecticut State Police.

The Connecticut State Police and Medical Examiner announced Wednesday they were able to identify the previously anonymous remains in a 1970s homicide as Linda Sue Childers, of Kentucky.

Officials said her remains were one of two victims located in a shallow grave in Ledyard, Connecticut, on May 30, 1974. A witness of the double homicide on Dec. 31, 1974, was able to provide the location.

Police said Childers' family confirmed she had been in the northeast in the years before her disappearance. However, Childers' identity was never verified because she used an alias.

"It is gratifying to have helped identify Linda and, most importantly, give her family some answers," police said in a press release.

Her cause of death was determined to be a gunshot wound to the head, and her manner of death determined a homicide.

Over the years, investigators gained no leads through the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) nor the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).

Then, in July 2022, samples were sent to forensic and genetic genealogy company Othram, where DNA from her remains was added to a database. The case was reopened, and in January of this year, the victim's sister was identified.

Through her sister, investigators learned Childers had a daughter, who provided a DNA sample. That led to confirming the identity of the remains.

The suspects involved in the double homicide were arrested shortly after the murders, and both were convicted of the crimes. They are now deceased, police said.