Police used DNA to identify boy more than 50 years after his body was found. What happened to him remains a mystery
Police used advanced DNA testing to identify a murdered Pennsylvania boy more than 50 years after his body was found in Virginia, but the events leading up to his death remain a mystery.
In June 1972, a little boy was found dead in Massey Creek under the Old Colchester Road Bridge in Lorton, Virginia. An autopsy revealed he had died of blunt force trauma but he was not able to be identified until now.
The Fairfax County Police Department revealed the boy’s name on Monday — Carl Matthew Bryant. Bryant had turned four years old shortly before he was found dead.
Police were able to identify Byrant through advanced DNA testing and forensic-grade genome sequencing.
A computer-generated sketch of Carl Matthew Bryant, 4, who was murdered and found dead in Virginia in 1972 (The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children)
Astrea Forensics, a biotechnology research company that helps law enforcement solve forensic cold cases, developed a DNA profile suitable for genetic genealogy with just a few millimeters of hair collected from the boy.
With this DNA profile, Innovative Forensic Investigations, an investigative genetic genealogy and private investigation firm, was able to identify a possible relative of the boy.
Detectives then traced the boy’s family to Philadelphia, and with the help of local authorities, they contacted a relative who led them to the boy’s mother, Vera Bryant. Vera died in 1980, but her body was exhumed, and her DNA confirmed a match.
But it’s still unclear what exactly happened to Bryant and his six-month-old brother, James Bryant, who was killed around the same time. James’ body has never been found.
Detectives believe Vera and her then-boyfriend, James Hedgepeth, who is also now dead, were involved in Bryant’s murder. Hedgepeth was previously convicted of murder and had a “violent criminal history,” according to Fairfax County police.
A family member said Vera had two sons, Carl and James, and she planned to travel from Philadelphia to Virginia in 1972, according to authorities.
Police theorize the murders of the Byrant boys happened somewhere between Philadelphia and Middlesex County, Virginia.
Police believe this is the route Bryant’s mother, Vera, and her boyfriend, James Hedgepeth, drove when traveling to Virginia in 1972 (Fairfax County Police Department)
