Cold Case: Norwalk Police Seeks Help in Solving 1996 Death

NORWALK, CT - A "badly decomposed and partially skeletonized" body was discovered on Norwalk's Shea Island in April 1996, and the police department is asking for the public's help in solving the cold case.

The body was that of an adult male, roughly 5 feet 1 inches tall and between the ages of 20 and 30 years old, and it was found by a couple who were camping on the island on April 18, 1996, at about 7:25 p.m. There was no clothing on the body and facial identification was not possible, according to Norwalk Police Lt. Art Weisgerber.

Additionally, no dental charting could be completed because several front teeth were missing postmortem.

"In an attempt to make an identification through fingerprints, nine of the fingers were removed at the middle knuckle and placed in separate jars," said Weisgerber in a statement posted on Facebook. "Some jars had glycerol added in an effort to soften the tissue for print rolling. Only two of the nine fingers exhibited enough ridge detail for identification."

Those two prints were sent to the Latent Print Section of the State of Connecticut Forensic Laboratory in April 1996, in addition to other finger print databases including at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but no identification was found. Weisgerber said that in September 2014, the department went back to the FBI and requested a search through the new NGI database, but again, no identification was made.

"Currently, evidence that had been collected [during the] autopsy is about to be examined by the DNA Section of the State of Connecticut Forensic Laboratory in an effort to develop a DNA profile from hairs or bone as necessary," said Weisgerber. "If that proves successful, the profile will them be uploaded into [Combined DNA Index System and National DNA Index System] in an effort to make a match with a reported Missing Person in which family members submitted DNA samples for comparison. It is critical that family members of Missing Persons confirm with the Police Department handling the case that DNA samples are collected from as many family members s possible."

Anyone with information about this case (Case # 96-17303) is urged to contact Weisgerber at 203-854-3028 or aweisgerber@norwalkct.org.

Photo 1: The beach on Shea Island where the body was found in 1996; Photo 2: Aerial map of the discovery's location. Photo credit: Norwalk Police Departement