Body found in NH woods in 1971 ID’d as woman never heard from after missing a flight

In 1971, Katherine Ann Alston was supposed to meet her family at an airport in Massachusetts.

Her parents and siblings were moving to Texas, “where her father’s family was from,” according to a Jan. 9 news release posted on Facebook by New Hampshire State Police.

The 26-year-old from Boston, though, never showed.

Alston was never reported missing, and her family never saw or spoke to her after they moved out of state, police said.

Through DNA testing, “investigators now know it was her body that was found on October 6, 1971, in Bedford, New Hampshire, approximately one to three months after she had been killed,” according to police.

Her killer is still unknown, police said.

“We are determined to stay on this case and will work tirelessly with our law enforcement partners to follow any leads that may help us determine who might be responsible for Ms. Alston’s death,” Attorney General John M. Formella said in the release.

Genetic genealogy leads to ID

Bedford NH Jane Doe 1971 was found “in a then-wooded area at the end of Kilton Road in Bedford near the Route 101 bypass,” police said. She was determined to be 25 to 35 years old.

“She was found wearing a maroon, pullover blouse with lace at the neck, short hip-hugger Dungaree-type shorts, size 7 sandals, and no identification,” police said.

While her cause of death hasn’t been determined, her death was ruled a homicide, police said.

Twice, once in 1993 and again in 2006, police said they and the chief medical examiner worked with “experts in the field of clay facial reconstruction to create an impression of her appearance.”

The New Hampshire Cold Case Unit in 2020 worked with forensic anthropologists and others to develop an updated reconstruction, according to police.

Police said they then turned to genetic genealogy for answers.

“After exhausting all leads, the New Hampshire State Police reached out to the DNA Doe Project in February of 2020,” the nonprofit said.

DNA Doe Project, founded in 2017, uses “investigative genetic genealogy to identify John and Jane Doe unidentified remains,” according to the nonprofit’s website.

After being assigned to the case, DNA Doe Project said its lab created a complex DNA profile and subsequently needed a second bone sample.

This DNA profile was to be used in genetic genealogy, which uses DNA testing coupled with “traditional genealogical methods” to create “family history profiles,” according to the Library of Congress. With genealogical DNA testing, researchers can determine if and how people are biologically related.

Though one of Alton’s siblings took a direct-to-consumer DNA test from GEDmatch, a match was not made right away when Bedford NH Jane Doe 1971’s profile was uploaded in 2020, according to the nonprofit.

It was not until January 2021, when the company changed its policy and made all its data “available for investigative genetic genealogy matching to John and Jane Does,” that a match was found, the nonprofit said.

By working with the nonprofit, investigators positively identified the body as Alton’s, police said.

Killer still at large

Alston graduated Dorchester High School in 1963 and went on to attend Boston University, police said.

“At 22 years old, she married a fellow student, Ralph Lawson Garrett, Jr., at Second Church in Newton, Massachusetts, in November of 1967,” according to police.

The couple, who honeymooned in Jamaica, moved to Cambridge but later divorced, according to police.

Alston was divorced from Garrett at the time of her death, police said.

“Mr. Garrett is currently deceased, and there is no evidence to suggest the divorce was not amicable,” police said.

Alston was living at in Boston with a roommate, David Cormie, when she died, according to police.

Investigators are looking to talk to him and anyone else who knew her, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 603-271-2663.

Bedford, New Hampshire, is about 50 miles northwest of Boston.

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