Identified! DE - Townsend, WhtFem Skeletal 132UFDE, 33-63, off Route 13, Jun'77 - Marie Petry Heiser

[MicheleT]

Here is another article with the new DNA rendering.
Delaware police hope DNA rendering of woman brutally murdered in 1977 can heat up cold case

"The woman’s remains were found in a Townsend drainage ditch in June 1977. It was unclear whether she was killed at the ditch or just dumped there, and police have been reluctant to reveal how she was killed in hopes a criminal confession could be corroborated using this information, according to Delaware Online."

 

[b741ma]

The Doe Network:
Case File 132UFDE

132UFDE

Unidentified White Female

* Located on June 27, 1977 in Townsend, New Castle County, Delaware.
* Estimated date of Death: 1 to 2 Months prior
* Partial Skeletal Remains

Vital Statistics

* Estimated age: 35 - 50 years old
* Approximate Height and Weight: 5'2"-5'6"; 90-110 lbs
* Distinguishing Characteristics: Blonde hair. Thin build. She had given birth to at least two to three children during her lifetime. Scar on right buttock.
* Clothing: None located
* Skeletal Findings: Wear patterns on vertebrae suggests chronic stress in which the victim suffered periods of inflammation and bony reaction. The right second metacarpal was broken at mid-shaft. It may have resulted from a struggle.
* Fingerprints: Not available
* Dentals: Charts and x-rays available. Amalgam fillings #3, 5, 7, 11, 12, 14, 15 in upper jaw, 21, 28, 30, in lower jaw. Evidence of heavy accumulation of tar, old extraction in lower jaw, removable appliance in upper jaw, and gum disease. Work is of poor quality. Individual had not seen a dentist for at least 1 or more years prior to her death.
* DNA: Available

Case History
On June 27, 1977, County Police detectives responded to a rural area outside of Townsend, Delaware after skeletal remains were found in an open field. The unidentified woman was a homicide victim.
It was discovered that Serial-killer Henry Lee Lucas lived in Elkton, Maryland, which is very close to the area where the remains were found. Investigators also found that writings Lucas made while he was serving time in a Texas prison have many similarities to the crime scene and information that was developed.
It was also discovered that Henry Lucas claimed to have brought a female from Michigan to Delaware and left her body here. In 1983, Lucas confessed to killing 6 women in Delaware, but he later recanted.
No local leads were ever developed making investigators believe that the victim may in fact be from the Michigan area.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Delaware Office of the Chief Medical Examiner
Hal Brown
302-577-3420
Email

You may remain anonymous when submitting information to any agency.

Agency Case Numbers:
32-77-40780
DE0020300
77-433

Source Information:
New Castle County Police
UDRS

Return to the Unidentified Victims' Index

Good lead but according to the decadent latest NamUs Page Maria Reyes has already been ruled out. The resemblance was uncanny but it wasn’t her.

 

[Melt71]

This case was recently updated in Namus but I can't see what has changed so may be "back end" data or ruleouts.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

New Castle County Police report that the breakthrough in this investigation occurred when Montgomery County Maryland Officer Steven Smugeresky became involved in the case. Members of the Cold Case Squad consulted with Officer Smugeresky after he conducted a presentation at a Law Enforcement Cold Case Seminar. In 2019, Officer Smugeresky took over the ancestry researching of the victim’s DNA profile. He worked tirelessly on potential family trees in an attempt to develop information on the identity of the remains. New Castle County Police followed up on these leads and obtained DNA samples from possible relatives.

The Delaware Division of Forensic Science DNA Laboratory expeditiously conducted analysis of the possible relative samples and extracted DNA profiles. The profiles were entered into CODIS and a positive comparison to the 1977 remains was received.

Based on that analysis, the identity of Marie Petry Heiser was confirmed by Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Gary Collins of the Delaware Division of Forensic Science. Dr. Collins concurred with the initial Pathologist, ruling Heiser’s manner of death to be homicide.

Marie Petry Heiser is formerly from the 6200 block of Crafton Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was determined that Marie Petry Heiser was 50 years old at the time of her death and had not been reported missing to any police agency.

Heiser was the wife of William Heiser Sr. who was a member of the Philadelphia Police Department’s Highway Patrol from the 1950’s until the early 1960’s. They were known for performing thrill shows in area stadiums and arenas. Heiser Sr. had to leave the Police Force after being seriously injured while rehearsing for one of these shows. He then worked as a truck driver for an area transportation company. William Heiser Sr. relocated to the area of South Daytona Beach Florida in the late 1970’s and subsequently died in 2006.
Break In The Case, Murdered Woman Was Former Philly Cop’s Wife

 

[victoriarobinson642]

RIP, Marie Heiser.

 

[Al Ka]

Official announcement on New Castle County Police FB Page - Log into Facebook

Part of announcement -
Marie Petry Heiser was a homemaker and part-time employee at the former Ashbourne Country Club in Cheltenham Pennsylvania in the 1970s. She was the mother of two children, a daughter who currently resides in California and a son who lives in Florida. The children had been told by their father that their mother had packed her bags and left the residence in Philadelphia, leaving behind no information on where she had gone. Her son, William Heiser Jr. is a retired Police Officer from the Volusia County Sheriff’s Department in Florida.

Heiser Jr stated that he appreciated all of the hard work by law enforcement in identifying his mother as it gave his family some sense of closure regarding her disappearance.

The New Castle County Police are continuing their investigation into Marie Petry Heiser’s death. We are specifically interested in anyone who may have known the Heiser family, especially from the area of Crafton Street in Philadelphia or the former Ashbourne Country Club in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania as well as the greater South Daytona Beach area in Florida.

 

[Mrs. Badcrumble]

"For three decades, police made no progress in the case.

In 2008, detectives submitted information about Heiser's discovery to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, which included a DNA profile of the woman's remains.

That was entered into the Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, a national DNA database run by the FBI. Though police hoped something would turn up, the database returned no matches, and as it had 30 years before, the case stalled.

About a decade later, in February 2017, New Castle County police were told of a Virginia company, Parabon Nanolabs, which specializes in DNA phenotyping. Phenotyping is a process of predicting physical traits and ancestry from DNA.

Detectives sent the woman's information to a forensic artist at Parabon Nanolabs, who created a sketch. The lab also produced a digital image of Heiser and sent genetic information to ancestry databases to create a potential family tree.

The breakthrough came when Montgomery County, Maryland, police officer Steven Smugeresky got involved in the case in 2019. New Castle County cold case detectives had consulted with Smugeresky after he held a law enforcement cold case seminar, and he agreed to help research Heiser's DNA ancestry.

(...)

Once police collected the samples, the Delaware Division of Forensic Science created DNA profiles and entered them into CODIS, where Heiser's information had been submitted years before. Forensic science personnel got back a "positive (DNA) comparison," police said."

Marie was never reported missing.

Reconstructions vs. photograph of Marie Petry Heiser:

After more than 40 years, New Castle County homicide victim identified

 

[MadMcGoo]

Rest peacefully now Marie.

 

[carbuff]

Rest in peace, Marie Petry Heiser.

 

[Seattle1]

Break In The Case, Murdered Woman Was Former Philly Cop’s Wife

n June 1977, the body of a female was located in the wooded area off Old Union Church Road (County Road 456) by an area teenager who was traveling home on his bicycle. New Castle County Police as well as officials from the State of Delaware Medical Examiner’s Office responded to the scene to conduct an investigation. The Delaware Medical Examiner, at the time, determined the manner of the victim’s death to be homicide.

[..]

Marie Petry Heiser is formerly from the 6200 block of Crafton Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was determined that Marie Petry Heiser was 50 years old at the time of her death and had not been reported missing to any police agency.

Heiser was the wife of William Heiser Sr. who was a member of the Philadelphia Police Department’s Highway Patrol from the 1950’s until the early 1960’s. They were known for performing thrill shows in area stadiums and arenas. Heiser Sr. had to leave the Police Force after being seriously injured while rehearsing for one of these shows. He then worked as a truck driver for an area transportation company. William Heiser Sr. relocated to the area of South Daytona Beach Florida in the late 1970’s and subsequently died in 2006. [Heiser Sr. reportedly sold the family home end of 1977 and moved to Florida].

Marie Petry Heiser was a homemaker and part-time employee at the former Ashbourne Country Club in Cheltenham Pennsylvania in the 1970’s. She was the mother of two children, a daughter who currently resides in California and a son who lives in Florida. The children had been told by their father that their mother had packed her bags and left the residence in Philadelphia, leaving behind no information on where she had gone. Her son, William Heiser Jr. is a retired Police Officer from the Volusia County Sheriff’s Department in Florida.

[..]

The New Castle County Police are continuing their investigation into Marie Petry Heiser’s death. They are specifically interested in anyone who may have known the Heiser family, especially from the area of Crafton Street in Philadelphia or the former Ashbourne Country Club in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania as well as the greater South Daytona Beach area in Florida.

Anyone who has any information about this incident, please contact Detective Jeffrey Sendek at 302-395-8110 or via email at Jeffery.Sendek@newcastlede.gov or Lt Teresa Williams (RET) at 302-395-8110 or Teresa.Williams@new castlede.gov or by calling the New Castle County Division of Police non-emergency number at 302-573-2800.

_____________________

This case breaks my heart. Marie deserved better in life and in death. The idea that nobody ever made an inquiry about a 50-year-old woman that allegedly vanished without a trace or a word decades later is mind baffling. Her son, a retired police officer, is older than his mother was when she disappeared! Life experience, let alone his occupation, you'd think would have made him curious about her whereabouts. Instead, he says that never in a million years would he think foul play in her disappearance. Can't say the family feared the dad -- he's been deceased since 2006.

 

[Suglo]

Break In The Case, Murdered Woman Was Former Philly Cop’s Wife

n June 1977, the body of a female was located in the wooded area off Old Union Church Road (County Road 456) by an area teenager who was traveling home on his bicycle. New Castle County Police as well as officials from the State of Delaware Medical Examiner’s Office responded to the scene to conduct an investigation. The Delaware Medical Examiner, at the time, determined the manner of the victim’s death to be homicide.

[..]

Marie Petry Heiser is formerly from the 6200 block of Crafton Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was determined that Marie Petry Heiser was 50 years old at the time of her death and had not been reported missing to any police agency.

Heiser was the wife of William Heiser Sr. who was a member of the Philadelphia Police Department’s Highway Patrol from the 1950’s until the early 1960’s. They were known for performing thrill shows in area stadiums and arenas. Heiser Sr. had to leave the Police Force after being seriously injured while rehearsing for one of these shows. He then worked as a truck driver for an area transportation company. William Heiser Sr. relocated to the area of South Daytona Beach Florida in the late 1970’s and subsequently died in 2006. [Heiser Sr. reportedly sold the family home end of 1977 and moved to Florida].

Marie Petry Heiser was a homemaker and part-time employee at the former Ashbourne Country Club in Cheltenham Pennsylvania in the 1970’s. She was the mother of two children, a daughter who currently resides in California and a son who lives in Florida. The children had been told by their father that their mother had packed her bags and left the residence in Philadelphia, leaving behind no information on where she had gone. Her son, William Heiser Jr. is a retired Police Officer from the Volusia County Sheriff’s Department in Florida.

[..]

The New Castle County Police are continuing their investigation into Marie Petry Heiser’s death. They are specifically interested in anyone who may have known the Heiser family, especially from the area of Crafton Street in Philadelphia or the former Ashbourne Country Club in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania as well as the greater South Daytona Beach area in Florida.

Anyone who has any information about this incident, please contact Detective Jeffrey Sendek at 302-395-8110 or via email at Jeffery.Sendek@newcastlede.gov or Lt Teresa Williams (RET) at 302-395-8110 or Teresa.Williams@new castlede.gov or by calling the New Castle County Division of Police non-emergency number at 302-573-2800.

_____________________

This case breaks my heart. Marie deserved better in life and in death. The idea that nobody ever made an inquiry about a 50-year-old woman that allegedly vanished without a trace or a word decades later is mind baffling. Her son, a retired police officer, is older than his mother was when she disappeared! Life experience, let alone his occupation, you'd think would have made him curious about her whereabouts. Instead, he says that never in a million years would he think foul play in her disappearance. Can't say the family feared the dad -- he's been deceased since 2006.

Something stinks with this story. The kids couldn’t have been too young if she disappeared when she was 50. It’s been bothering me since I read your post last night. I’ll just sit on my hands now.

Rest In Peace Marie.

 

[Murder Inc]

nothing to see here, folks

 

[Seattle1]

Something stinks with this story. The kids couldn’t have been too young if she disappeared when she was 50. It’s been bothering me since I read your post last night. I’ll just sit on my hands now.

Rest In Peace Marie.

24 hours since my post and I think I'm more convinced than before that nobody believed that mom packed up and left -- never to be heard from again. I think they suspected dad was responsible for disappearing mom, and decided they did not want to stir the pot, did not want to borrow trouble. Otherwise, I think it's inconceivable that one could ignore the news of a woman on the shelf at the coroner's office for 44 years, still waiting to be claimed. Waiting since June 1977 -- the same time frame your own mother fell off the universe. MOO

 

[carbuff]

It's rough on the kids in a situation like that. The mother is gone, and if they say something about the father's guilt, then their father is gone too. Thinking your father might have harmed your mother is bad, but losing him too would be even worse.

 

[Seattle1]

It's rough on the kids in a situation like that. The mother is gone, and if they say something about the father's guilt, then their father is gone too. Thinking your father might have harmed your mother is bad, but losing him too would be even worse.

So with dad deceased for 15 years, just no incentive to rattle the skeletons in the closet?

I suppose if you could ignore the elephant for 32 years before dad died, the elephant probably isn't even visible anymore.

I think it's amazing what a mind will do to protect the mind, body, and spirit.

MOO

 

[carbuff]

So with dad deceased for 15 years, just no incentive to rattle the skeletons in the closet?

I suppose if you could ignore the elephant for 32 years before dad died, the elephant probably isn't even visible anymore.

I think it's amazing what a mind will do to protect the mind, body, and spirit.

MOO

Yeah, exactly.

I mean, being grown up doesn't mean you want to lose a parent, no matter what the circumstances.

 

[tayaway]

I'd like to echo everybody else here; it's enraging. She packed up and left everything, including her belongings, taking only her murdered body, found later in a ditch. Former Philly cop and truck driver for a husband. Going through marital problems. Never reported missing. Never sent letters to the kids. Never is an awfully long time to bury the truth.

RIP Marie Heiser.

 

[MadMcGoo]

Never is an awfully long time.

 

[Seattle1]

24 hours since my post and I think I'm more convinced than before that nobody believed that mom packed up and left -- never to be heard from again. I think they suspected dad was responsible for disappearing mom, and decided they did not want to stir the pot, did not want to borrow trouble. Otherwise, I think it's inconceivable that one could ignore the news of a woman on the shelf at the coroner's office for 44 years, still waiting to be claimed. Waiting since June 1977 -- the same time frame your own mother fell off the universe. MOO

There's an update to the story. Although Marie's remains located In DE, the location was only 65 miles south of her home. Her son was away at boarding school when mom allegedly vanished. Kids thought it was their fault... But still, the son says dad was a saint!

She Vanished Decades Ago. Her Children Just Learned She Had Been Killed.

One day, about a half-century ago, William Heiser Jr. came home from boarding school to find that his mother was gone. His father, William Sr., a former police officer, told him and his sister that their mother had walked out.

“He just said she just packed up her stuff and left,” Heiser said, even though some of her clothes and belongings were still in their house in Philadelphia.

Heiser, 68, said he figured that his parents had grown apart or divorced. Sometimes, he wondered if his mother had been upset at him and his sister. As the years went on, the disappearance of his mother, Marie Petry Heiser, became more painful, as Heiser and his sister questioned why she never called or wrote. When they asked their father where she was, he would tell them he didn’t know.

[..]

“He would be the last person that would ever hurt anybody,” said Heiser, who followed his father into law enforcement and is retired from the Volusia County Sheriff’s Department in Florida. “He was a saint — took care of his family, never raised his voice or hands or argued or anything.”

 

[lindugh]

So the children were actually adults when their mother disappeared. Seems they didn't know her at all.