BOSTON, Mass. (TNND) — A woman who was “terribly mutilated” in a Massachusetts murder more than two decades ago finally has a name and will no longer be known as “Chelsea Jane Doe.”
Authorities credited DNA testing and genealogical research with helping identify the victim as Tiffany Bradley, a 16-year-old from Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Tiffany Bradley identified in cold case 26 years later (FBI)
Police made what the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office described as a “horrifying discovery” on Nov. 13, 2000, in the parking lot of the Soldiers’ Home in Chelsea.
“They found a body of an unknown female,” Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said during a news conference. “Tragically she had been cut in half, she was without her head and without any hands.”
The man responsible for her death, Eugene McCollom, pleaded guilty decades ago and is serving a life prison sentence.
“After more than two decades of tireless effort and collaboration combined with the latest advancements in DNA technology, we can finally bring Tiffany’s family and loved ones the answers they’ve been seeking,” officials wrote on Facebook.
The FBI, which joined Massachusetts State Police in announcing the breakthrough, said Bradley was trafficked across state lines, decapitated, dismembered and dumped behind a parking lot.
Her aunt, Janet Bradley-Knight, remembered her niece as an athlete who played on her school’s basketball team, joined ROTC and was “a loving girl.”
“Thank you so much for letting us take her safely home,” Bradley-Knight said. “From the bottom of my heart, for not letting my baby be a box on the shelf. I thank you all for your tireless effort.”
Family member Shakirah Wiggins also spoke during the news conference, saying it was “totally amazing that after 26 years people care enough to give her a name and return her to her family.”
Relatives said the last time they spoke with Bradley was during a phone call while she was in New York. She told a family member she would call back, but she never did.