Police identify bodies in Pennsylvania after decades, and questions remain unanswered

Lebanon County, Pennsylvania (WHP) – Authorities in Lebanon County have identified a 14-year-old girl after she was found dead under a tarp in Union Township decades ago.

Authorities released her name during a 12:30 press conference at the Lebanon County Department of Emergency Services:

Detectives confirmed that in 1973, two County Game Wardens found Ruth Elizabeth Brenneman of York County in a wooded area near Moonshine Road.

Her body decomposed.

State police said they worked diligently to identify Brenneman, working closely with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which helped them create one of the two busts to resemble Brenneman.

Brenneman was later exhumed by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in May 2016, and her remains were taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital, where she was examined.

As soldiers confirmed, it was identified only in October 2024.

Brenneman was last seen at the beginning of the 1973 school year and had just celebrated her 15th birthday.

Many questions were asked during Thursday’s press conference about the circumstances surrounding Brenneman’s death, but most of them remained unanswered as State Police said the investigation into the matter was ongoing.

The coroner will determine whether Brenneman’s death was a homicide, but officials said there is some suspicion about her death due to the way her body was left.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to call Pennsylvania State Police Jonestown at 717-865-5067.