Elmira’s Chilling Cold Case Closure

A 12-year-old girl’s brutal murder remained unsolved for over six decades until cutting-edge DNA technology and meticulous 1964 police work converged to name her killer—a man who died before facing justice.

Story Snapshot

Mary Theresa Simpson, 12, vanished March 15, 1964, in Elmira, New York; found sexually assaulted and strangled four days later in wooded area
Case reopened in 2023 using forensic genetic genealogy through Othram Labs, FBI, and Season of Justice funding
Suspect identified as deceased individual; identity revealed at February 10, 2026 press conference by Chemung County DA
Marks 18th New York cold case solved using Othram technology and one of oldest genealogy-resolved murders in U.S. history

A Young Life Stolen in Broad Daylight

Mary Theresa Simpson left her relatives’ home near East Market and Harriet Streets in Elmira on an ordinary Sunday afternoon. The seventh-grader never made it home. Her father reported her missing that evening, triggering a frantic search through a tight-knit upstate New York community. Four agonizing days later, a hiker and his sons stumbled upon her body in woods near Combs Hill Road in neighboring Southport. She had been sexually assaulted, strangled, and her mouth packed with twigs and dirt—a detail suggesting the killer’s rage or attempt to silence her forever, even in death.

When Science Did Not Exist to Catch Killers

The Elmira Police Department conducted hundreds of interviews in 1964, exhausting every investigative avenue available at the time. Detectives relied on witness statements, physical evidence collection, and suspect interrogations—tools that proved insufficient without DNA analysis, which would not emerge for another two decades. The case grew cold as leads evaporated and suspects aged or died. For Mary’s family, decades passed with no answers, no closure, and no justice. The killer walked free, his identity locked in biological evidence that 1960s technology could not decode.

The Breakthrough That Changed Everything

In February 2023, the Elmira Police Department sent preserved evidence from Mary’s case to Othram Labs in The Woodlands, Texas. The private forensic laboratory specializes in Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing, a sophisticated process that extracts and analyzes degraded DNA to build comprehensive genetic profiles. Othram’s scientists painstakingly constructed a DNA profile from six-decade-old biological material. The FBI’s forensic genetic genealogy team then compared this profile against vast genealogical databases, tracing family trees and narrowing suspects through generations of relatives who had never met Mary or her killer.

Following Family Trees to a Dead End

The collaborative investigation between local police, federal agents, and private scientists yielded a definitive match. Genetic genealogy pinpointed a suspect whose DNA matched evidence recovered from the crime scene. The breakthrough came with a bitter asterisk: the man responsible for Mary’s murder had died years earlier, escaping prosecution and prison. While the identification brings scientific certainty and emotional closure to Mary’s surviving relatives, it denies them the courtroom reckoning that victims’ families typically seek. The suspect’s name remained confidential pending an official announcement scheduled for February 10, 2026, at the Chemung County District Attorney’s Office.

Why This Case Matters Beyond One Family

Mary Simpson’s case represents the eighteenth New York cold case solved through Othram’s technology, demonstrating how forensic genetic genealogy has revolutionized criminal investigations. Cases once considered permanently unsolvable now yield answers decades after evidence collection. Season of Justice, a nonprofit organization, funded the DNA testing—a model that enables under-resourced police departments to access expensive technology. This public-private-nonprofit partnership showcases how collaboration can deliver justice when traditional methods fail. For communities haunted by unsolved crimes, the Simpson case offers hope that no case remains too old, too cold, or too complex for modern science to crack.

COLD CASE SOLVED! 1964 Murder of Mary Simpson, 12: Killer Named After 60 Years! https://t.co/LBLf3a8zGH via @crimeonlinenews #bodybags

— Crime Online (@crimeonlinenews) February 10, 2026

The Legacy of Persistence and Innovation

Crime analysts Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack credit the resolution to “great police work in 1964” combined with “exceptional science” six decades later. The original investigators preserved evidence with care, following protocols that would prove invaluable generations later. Their diligence ensured that when technology caught up to the crime, scientists had viable biological material to analyze. Mary’s case joins a growing roster of ancient murders solved through genetic genealogy, from California to Texas to New Mexico, proving that justice delayed need not mean justice denied—even when the guilty escape earthly punishment through death.