Remains found in 1973 identified as Pennsylvania teenager who left for school and never returned

Pennsylvania officials said this week that authorities have positively identified the remains of a girl whose body was found hidden in bushes under a plastic tarp in 1973.

The remains belong to Ruth Elizabeth Brenneman, 14, Sgt. Pennsylvania State Police. Josh Lacey he told reporters at Wednesday’s press conference.

Lacey said that on Oct. 10, 1973, two game wardens found the decomposed remains of a young girl in a wooded area of ​​Lebanon County, about 45 miles from Brenneman’s home in York County.

It was not possible to determine how she died.

Lacey said authorities have been trying to identify the girl for the past 50 years. In another attempt to identify her, officials, with the help of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, exhumed the girl’s body from Mount Lebanon Cemetery in May 2016.

A positive identification was finally made last month after her remains were examined at Lehigh Valley Hospital. Lacey said she was identified through genealogy.

“As a result of their efforts, this young woman will no longer be known as Jane Doe,” Lacey said.

Identifying the body is “a huge step in this investigation,” said State Trooper Ian Keck. “We need to know about the victim and her daily life, who she associated with and her various activities.”

Brenneman was last seen “when she left for school and never came home,” Lacey said. The services are checking whether she reached school that day.

They are also trying to determine whether Brenneman was reported missing and on what day she disappeared, Keck added.

“The fact that we identified her today does not end our investigation,” Keck said. “We are going to give it our all and put our best foot forward to draw conclusions.”

Anyone who knew Brenneman or knows anything about her is asked to contact Pennsylvania State Police.

Lacey declined to say whether there is a person of interest in the case and cannot say for sure whether it was a homicide because the case is still “pending” with the coroner’s office.

But he said there was “some suspicion” about Brenneman’s death, “given the fact that she was found under a tarp, in the bushes.”

In a statement read by Lacey, Brenneman’s family said her identification “has helped us resolve issues that have been troubling us for the last 51 years.”