A Massachusetts woman found murdered 45 years ago has been identified after researchers compared her DNA to that of her living son.
At a press conference Monday, First Assistant District Attorney Steven Gagne identified the woman long known as the “Granby Girl” as Patricia Ann Tucker, who was 28 years old when she was murdered sometime in 1978.
Tucker’s body was discovered on November 15 of that year covered in leaves on a forest trail in Granby, Massachusetts, just north of the town of Springfield. Her skeletal remains had a gunshot wound to the temple, and investigators suspected she died about three months before her death.
Gagne said Tucker’s husband at the time of her disappearance, Gerald Coleman, was a strong suspect in the case. He did not report her missing when she disappeared, and he died in prison in 1995 while serving time for a rape conviction.
Researchers were able to find a relative of Tucker’s using DNA technology and from there found a perfect genealogical match to her son, Matthew Dale, who was five years old when she disappeared.
Patricia Ann Tucker, who was 28 years old when she was killed sometime in 1978
Gerald Coleman was named as the prime suspect in the murder. He died in prison in 1995
Tucker’s body was found by a group of children playing on the logging road in Granby. It was not only buried under a pile of leaves, but also hidden under a tree trunk.
Although her husband never reported her missing — and had prior convictions for kidnapping, assault and firearms — investigators were never able to identify the “skeletoned and clothed” body.
Medical examiners could only determine that she would have been between 19 and 27 years old and that she was female.
Twenty years after her death, a stone was placed in a local cemetery that read ‘Unknown, November 15, 1978. In God’s Care’.
Gagne said investigators finally had a breakthrough in the case last March, after sending a piece of Tucker’s remains to a private Texas genealogy lab called Othram. The lab was able to identify a relative in Maryland.
Investigators contacted that relative who said her aunt had disappeared in the 1970s. That aunt was later identified as Tucker.
They then found their way to Dale, who confirmed his mother had gone missing in 1978.
A sample of Dale’s DNA turned out to be a perfect match to the victim, proving she identified as Patricia.
Laid a headstone for the Granby girl marked ‘Unknown’
Gerald Coleman never reported his wife missing. He had convictions for assault and kidnapping
Tucker’s son, Matthew Dale (center), who was five years old when she disappeared
Gagne said Dale told investigators he remembered being dropped off at home by his mother and Coleman — who was not his father — and never saw either of them again.
Department of Children and Families records showed that Dale was dropped with a woman from nearby Chicopee, who told detectives that Coleman asked her to babysit the boy for several hours while he and Tucker took care of personal matters, Gagne said.
When Coleman and Tucker never returned to pick up Dale, the woman contacted authorities who took the boy to his biological father.
“While it’s satisfying to finally know who (the) ‘Granby Girl’ really was, the investigation won’t stop until we identify her killer and bring the family an extra measure of closure and justice,” Gagne said, according to the Boston Globe. .
While Gagne Coleman did not name the killer, he said he was “definitely, at the very least, a person who was deeply interested in Patricia’s disappearance and death.”
Dale attended the press conference and Gagne read a statement on his behalf.
“I want to thank everyone (for) trying to identify my mother and putting your arms around her, especially the community of Granby,” he said. “Thank you for never giving up on her. At least I now have some answers after 44 years. It’s a lot to process, but hopefully the closure can start now.”
