HALF-CRACKED CASE

Body Found in Delaware Woods in 1977 ID’d as Ex-Cop’s Wife

Her husband never reported her missing and told the kids she just packed her bags and left.

The remains of a woman found in the woods of Delaware in 1977 have been identified—and the murder victim is the wife of a former cop who never reported her missing. William Heiser Sr., who died in 2006, told his children that their mother, Marie Petry Heiser, packed her bags one day and left home without saying where she was going, New Castle Police said. The mystery of what happened to her was partially solved when the Cold Case Squad used new ancestry DNA sleuthing to put a name to the body found by a teenager biking home more than four decades ago. The medical examiner determined she died of homicide but did not provide any specifics. Her son, William 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,” police said.

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Tracy Connor

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