Cold case rape, murder of 13-year-old solved 40 years later thanks to DNA testing advances
Just before 7 a.m. on September 23, 1981, a man walking his dog near a wooded area at Ridgewood Road and Goucher Boulevard in Towson, Maryland, discovered the deceased body of a 13-year-old girl. The girl, Heather Porter, had been missing from her Hazel Avenue home in Woodlawn since the night before.
The condition of Porter’s body at the scene led investigators to believe that she had been dragged into the woods. An autopsy later concluded that she had been strangled and raped.
See: Cold cases: Heather Porter’s 1981 death remains unsolved ~ WMAR-2 News, July 8, 2016
DNA was recovered from Heather’s body, but a match was never made. Detectives back in the day conducted a thorough investigation into her murder but were unsuccessful in identifying her murderer.
Fast forward 40 years into the future, where in 2021 and thanks to advances in DNA testing technology, Heather’s murderer has now been identified.
Last year, detectives with the Baltimore County Police Department’s Homicide Cold Case Squad reviewed Heather’s case and requested the suspect’s DNA profile be submitted for forensic genealogy. Bode Technology analyzed the sample and forwarded their results to the FBI for further analysis.
By February 2021, results identified John Anthony Petrecca, Jr. as a possible suspect in the murder of 13-year-old Heather Porter. A check of Petrecca’s criminal history showed prior arrests for rape in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Baltimore County Homicide Cold Case detectives determined, at the time of the killing, Petrecca resided in the 100 block of Ridge Avenue in Halethorpe, Maryland. The location is a short distance from where Heather Porter was last seen.
In an effort to positively identify Porter’s killer, detectives obtained written authorization from the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office to exhume Petrecca’s remains.
On the morning of March 11, 2021, police personnel and members from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner gathered at a local cemetery in Baltimore County where Petrecca was buried in 2000.
DNA recovered during the exhumation process was sent to Bode Technology for processing. On November 12, 2021, detectives learned the DNA obtained from Petrecca matched that of the suspect’s DNA profile.
See December 5, 2021 press release:
As a result of advances in forensic technology, Heather Porter’s family members now know the identity of the person who took their loved one’s life. The Baltimore County Police Department expressed their appreciation to Bode Technology, the Hackerman Foundation and the FBI for their help in solving this 40-year-old cold case.
(Source: Baltimore County Police Department)
Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Follow Richard on Facebook and Twitter
