Galpin was 16 when her sister, Mary Theresa Simpson, 12, was murdered, a crime that rocked their small community to the core. Out of town when it happened, Galpin rushed home and was overcome at the sight of her shy little sister lying there so still.
“I couldn’t believe she was in a casket,” Galpin recalled in an interview with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). “I tried to jump in it. I wanted to be in there with her.”
Today, more than 61 years later, Elmira Police Chief Kristen Thorne made a stunning announcement: They’ve finally found Mary’s killer. It’s the oldest case ever solved with DNA.
Over the years, dozens of law enforcement officers never stopped trying to figure out who killed “Mary Theresa,” as they fondly called her. As time marched on, advancements in DNA and genealogy testing finally brought them answers.
“This is a historic day for the Elmira Police Department,” Thorne said at a press conference. “Justice after 61 years.”
Perhaps most remarkable of all, police preserved evidence in the case for more than six decades, long before anyone even imagined DNA would become a powerful investigative tool.
Linda Galpin is 78 years old now and still thinks about her little sister every single day. Growing...
www.missingkids.org
