# Quiet serial killers may hide in plain sight as DNA unmasks dead 1970s Pennsylvania strangler, expert says

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/quiet-serial-killers-may-hide-in-plain-sight-as-dna-unmasks-dead-1970s-pennsylvania-strangler-expert-says/
- Published: 2026-11-10T11:00:35+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-10T11:22:27+00:00
- Original publisher: Fox News (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://www.foxnews.com/us/quiet-serial-killers-hide-plain-sight-dna-unmasks-dead-1970s-pennsylvania-strangler-expert-says
- Topics: World

## Key points

- DNA linked Clark to two 1970s Pennsylvania killings.
- Clark died in 2023, aged 66.
- Police believe there may be other victims.

## Summary

Pennsylvania State Police identified James Richard Clark Sr. as the man who sexually assaulted and strangled Brenda Ritter and Susan Rush in separate killings in the 1970s. Clark died in 2023, so the identification does not lead to a prosecution, but police say he may have had other victims.

Rush, 21, disappeared after leaving a shopping mall on 24 November 1976; her body was found in her car’s boot the next morning. Ritter, 18, vanished from her boyfriend’s home in 1977 and was later found on a hillside. DNA evidence from both scenes linked Clark to the murders after testing by several laboratories, while an FBI database search had produced no match. A former FBI behavioural analysis consultant said serial offenders’ known victims may represent only part of their crimes, and that some may stop offending for years.

---
Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.