Identified! WI - Houlton, WhtFem 35-60, 406UFWI, wide-set eyes, edentulous, Oct'02 Alyce Peterson

[iulia]

Wisconsin Cold Case Update: 2002 Human Remains Identified, Charges Filed

St. Croix County Sheriff’s Office announces identification of Alyce C. Peterson and charges against former funeral home employee.

drydenwire.com

[...]
On December 17, 2025, the St. Croix County District Attorney's office issued criminal charges against Benjamin Carl Hanson (pictured), age 57, of Bayport, Minnesota for Hiding a Corpse in violation of Wisconsin Statute § 940.11(2) and Felony Theft, in violation of Wisconsin Statute § 943.20(1)(a). Hanson was identified as a former employee of a local funeral home that provided funeral arrangements for Alyce Peterson.

 

[summergirl1]

It's interesting it was just one funeral home employee that did this, one who obviously struggled with mental health issues at the time among other things. The "Criminal Complaint" at the above link gives a lot of detail, although not the whole story (yet). Why he would choose a very old lady to do this to, I don’t know. In this specific case, it doesn't seem to be financial or necrophiliac? It perhaps is a story that wouldn't make any sense to the vast majority of people. Apparently there were no tools at the funeral home even capable of removing a human head so what did he use? Yikes.

I wonder what else he might have done? I would guess the mysterious head found in Pennsylvania in 2014 has a similar story. Genetic genealogy really solves many mysteries.