Cold case: Police finally solve horrific murder after 40 years

They say no crime goes unsolved and that’s definitely the case for a group of investigators in the United States.

After forty years, persistent police have finally solved a cold case that has baffled US authorities for decades. On November 28 in 1976, a group of hunters discovered skeletal remains in the woods of Grand Bay in Alabama. At the time, there were no clues and no solid evidence to point to who the victim was or who killed her. Technology also wasn’t what it is today, so it wasn’t as easy for authorities to piece together clues like they can in modern times.

According to WKRG, the skeleton was found in clothing and a partial dental plate of the female indicated she had experienced pre-existing injuries from a traffic collision. The remains were moved to a lab in Oklahoma a year later, where images were created from the skull to show what the woman may look like. Unfortunately, there were no leads and the case quickly went cold.

Unbeknownst to investigators, 33-year-old Mary Ann Perez had actually vanished without a trace from her home in New Orleans just months before the body was discovered. While her car was found at a bar near her home, her body was never found. Investigators never considered the remains could belong to Perez.

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Years went by and in 1980, a drifter named David Courtney and his wife admitted to killing five women across several states. The couple said they killed Perez but couldn’t remember where they’d dumped her body. Investigators found all the other bodies, but weren’t able to locate Perez’s. As such, her family held onto hope that she was still alive.

Detective J.T. Thornton was investigating another unidentified body in the same area 35 years after the couple’s confession. While there was no link between the bodies, Thornton spoke to another detective who remembered Perez’s case very clearly. This prompted Thornton to travel to New Orleans where he was told by Perez’s family that she’d been in a traffic accident and had a dental plate. Investigators were now 100 per cent sure the body located all those years ago was actually Perez’s. 

Because so much time had passed since the original discovery, no one knew where Perez’s remains were. DNA testing needed to be conducted to ensure the woman found all those years ago was actually Perez.

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“It was actually a miracle,” Thornton told WKRG. “The state attorney general’s office sent an investigator down here, who also works cold cases. So when he comes in he’s like ‘do you know anything about this case?” And I said I do and I’ve been hunting for the remains. And he’s like ‘we’ve been looking for the case that goes with the remains.’”

The remains had actually been stored in a warehouse in Oklahoma. Authorities are now conducting DNA tests on the remains with hopes the case will finally be closed after 42 years.

Meanwhile, Courtney remains in prison, while he wife served 10 years for her involvement in the crime. She passed away more than 20 years ago.

What do you think? Do you think justice is always served? Have you ever had to wait a long period of time for the truth to come out about something in your life?