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DNA links deceased trucker to two Pennsylvania murders from 1976 and 1977
DNA evidence has linked long-haul trucker James Richard Clark to the murders of Susan Rush and Brenda Ritter in Washington County, Pennsylvania, in 1976 and 1977. The identification, announced by state police on 4 November, resolves two cases that remained unsolved for nearly 50 years, though Clark died before he could be questioned or prosecuted.
Rush, 21, was found in the boot of her car after failing to arrive at a Thanksgiving dinner; Ritter, 18, was found dead after leaving her boyfriend’s home. Investigators submitted DNA from Ritter’s case to the national database CODIS in 2008, but it produced no match for years. Funding in 2021 and 2022 supported further testing, which ultimately linked Clark, who died of natural causes in 2023, to evidence from both cases; police say they have identified no other victims and continue to review evidence.
In short
- DNA linked James Richard Clark to two Pennsylvania murders.
- The victims were killed in 1976 and 1977.
- Clark died in 2023 before police could question him.
Explained simply
Susan Rush and Brenda Ritter were two young women murdered in Washington County, Pennsylvania, in 1976 and 1977. Their deaths became cold cases: investigations that remained unresolved for many years.
Police used DNA evidence to identify James Richard Clark, a long-haul trucker, as linked to both murders. Clark died in 2023, before he could be questioned or prosecuted. The cases show how stored evidence and newer testing can help investigators revisit unsolved crimes, even decades later.
Read the full article at the source →
Originally published by Daily Mail as “Long-haul trucker brutally murdered two women 50 years ago in cold case solved through DNA technology”.