![\"DNA-evidence\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/DNA-evidence.jpg\")
iStockphoto<\/p>\niStockphoto<\/p>\n
Almost 50 years after two young women were assaulted and murdered in Pennsylvania, police say DNA evidence has finally identified their killer.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the man investigators believe was responsible died three years ago. Even more troubling, authorities in Pennsylvania<\/a> believe he may have killed other women.<\/p>\n Pennsylvania State Police announced Wednesday that DNA evidence linked James Richard Clark Sr. to the murders of Susan Rush in 1976 and Brenda Ritter in 1977.<\/p>\n Clark, who was 19 and 20 years old when the homicides occurred, was never considered a suspect during the original investigations. He died of natural causes in July 2023 at age 66, according to WPXI<\/a>.<\/p>\n DNA Evidence Finally Solves Two Cold Case Murders From Nearly 50 Years Ago<\/p>\n On November 24, 1976, 21-year-old Susan Rush disappeared after leaving her job at G.C. Murphy\u2019s in the Washington Mall.<\/p>\n She was supposed to meet her family for a Thanksgiving Eve dinner but never arrived. Police<\/a> later discovered her body in the trunk of her car. She had been physically assaulted and strangled.<\/p>\n Six months later, on May 18, 1977, 18-year-old Brenda Ritter disappeared after leaving her boyfriend\u2019s home during a thunderstorm.<\/p>\n Investigators eventually found her abandoned car on Rankin Road in Washington County. Investigators discovered her body nearby. She had also been assaulted and strangled.<\/p>\n Despite numerous leads, both homicides remained unsolved for decades.<\/p>\n In 2008, investigators recovered an unidentified male DNA profile from evidence in Ritter\u2019s case. Additional testing in May 2025 finally connected the two homicides, and subsequent forensic work identified Clark.<\/p>\n \u201cThe testing identified the same offender murdered both,\u201d Pennsylvania State Police Cpl. James Petrosky said. \u201cThis testing confirmed there was a serial killer in Washington County during that time.\u201d<\/p>\n Police Believe The Serial Killer May Have More Victims<\/p>\n According to ABC News<\/a>, authorities are now investigating whether James Richard Clark Sr. was responsible for additional unsolved homicides.<\/p>\n One reason for their concern is that Clark worked as a long-haul truck driver, traveling throughout the country. So far, however, no additional victims have been publicly linked to Clark.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe that once you\u2019re a serial killer, you\u2019re always a serial killer,\u201d Petrosky said. \u201cI believe there could potentially be more victims out there.\u201d<\/p>\n The announcement in Pennsylvania comes as advances in DNA technology continue helping investigators revisit decades-old cold cases. Last week, DNA testing also linked notorious serial killer Ted Bundy to a Utah teenager\u2019s 1974 murder, according to CBS News<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThis case demonstrates the importance of preserving evidence,\u201d said Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera.<\/p>\n Last year, two discoveries raised fears about possible serial killers, including human remains found near Taylor Swift\u2019s Rhode Island mansion<\/a> and bodies discovered in Houston-area bayous<\/a>. Earlier this year, there were concerns that a serial killer was on the loose<\/a> in one of Mexico\u2019s World Cup host regions. None of those cases resulted in anyone being charged with multiple homicides.<\/p>\n For the families of Rush and Ritter, the DNA breakthrough finally answers many questions after nearly five decades. Now, with their suspected killer already dead and investigators concerned there may be more victims, the case isn\u2019t necessarily over.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"iStockphoto Almost 50 years after two young women were assaulted and murdered in Pennsylvania, police say DNA evidence…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":322706,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[32460,3230,28,30,29,206,8039],"class_list":["post-322705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-cold-cases","tag-dna","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-police","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322705"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322705\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"investigation-of-DNA-sample\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/investigation-of-DNA-sample.jpg\")
iStockphoto<\/p>\n![\"Ted-Bundy-leans-against-the-wall\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Ted-Bundy-leans-against-the-wall.jpg\")
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n