Body Found In Bedford NH In 1971 ID’d As Boston Mass. Woman; Investigators Seeks Tips

CONCORD, NH — A body found in Bedford in October 1971 has been identified as a woman living in Massachusetts at the time, solving one of New Hampshire’s oldest cold cases.

Now investigators are hoping to obtain tips leading to the person who killed her.

On Oct. 6, 1971, the body of Katherine Ann Alston, 26, of Boston, MA, was found in a wooded area at the end of Kilton Road in Bedford near the Route 101 bypass. Analysis at the time, according to the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office, estimated she had been dead somewhere between one to three months. Investigators believed Alston to be in her mid-20s to mid-30s and about 5 feet to 5 and half feet tall with brown hair. She wore a maroon pullover blouse with lace at the neck, hip-hugger dungaree shorts, and sandals. Alston was not carrying any identification. Her death was determined to be a homicide but the cause has not been determined.

Investigators in New Hampshire have been working on the case for more than 51 years and announced her identity on Monday due to forensic testing and assistance from the DNA Doe Project.

“Today’s announcement by our Cold Case Unit is very important and I am proud of their difficult and very diligent work,” Attorney General John Formella said. “It demonstrates our unwavering commitment to the pursuit of justice for Ms. Alston, her family, and for all New Hampshire crime victims. We are determined to stay on this case and will work tirelessly with our law enforcement partners to follow any leads that may help us determine who might be responsible for Ms. Alston’s death.”

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Then-Bedford Police Chief David Bailey told Patch in July 2011 the body was found under a pile of freshly cut brush. He said investigators put a lot of work into the case — but nothing panned out. Bailey, who had been an officer for about six months when her body was found, said the case was one of two that had haunted him during his entire career.

Identifying Alston

During the past two years, investigators and genetic genealogists at the DNA Doe Project worked to identify Alston after finding a genetic match from her DNA profile with a direct-to-consumer DNA test submitted by a family member in Texas, the state said.

That match was later confirmed, and investigators built a history of her life before her body was found.

Alston was born in Chelsea, MA, in 1945, graduated from Dorchester High School in 1963, and attended classes at Boston University. Investigators do not know if she graduated from college but are in the process of checking records with the university.

At 22, she married Ralph Lawson Garrett Jr. at the Second Church in Newton, MA, in November 1967. The couple lived in Cambridge and Somerville during their marriage but divorced later.

Alston's parents and siblings moved from the Bay State to Texas, where her father’s family originated. She was supposed to meet the family at Logan Airport in Boston in mid-to-late summer 1971, before their flight, but never showed up. Family members did not have an exact date on when they left Boston.

None of Alston’s family ever saw or spoke with her again after moving to Texas.

At the time, Alston was 26 and living at 36 Beacon St., a brownstone in the city’s Beacon Hill neighborhood, near the Statehouse.

In 1993 and 2006, the New Hampshire State Police and Office of the Chief Medical Examiner worked with experts in the field of clay facial reconstruction to create an impression of her appearance.

Two years ago, investigators in the cold case unit consulted with forensic anthropologists and experts in the field of digital facial reconstruction to create an updated impression of her appearance.

Who Killed Alston?

Investigators are asking for the public’s help in identifying who killed Alston.

Records do not show anyone — family members, co-workers, or friends, reporting Alston as missing.

Garrett, her former husband, is dead, and officials said there was no evidence to suggest the divorce was not amicable.

At her Beacon Street home, she had a roommate named David Cormier. But investigators do not have Cormier’s age or any information about him.

Investigators are looking to speak to anyone who knew Alston or Cormier or were residents of Boston, Cambridge, Dorchester, or Somerville, MA, between 1963 and the fall of 1971. They would also like to speak with any students who attended Boston University between 1963 and 1967 who might remember Alston or Garrett.

Anyone with this information, or any other information about Alston’s murder, was requested to contact investigators at the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit by phone (603-271-2663), email: coldcaseunit@dos.nh.gov, or the online tip form at doj.nh.doj/criminal/cold-case.

Investigators thanked partner agencies and organizations that helped make this identification possible — including but not limited to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner; Dr. Marcella Sorg, University of Maine; Dr. Amy Michael, University of New Hampshire; the University of North Texas Health Science Center; the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs); Prof. Joseph Mullins, George Mason University; Astrea Forensics; HudsonAlpha Discovery; Saber Investigations; GEDmatch; Family Tree DNA; the Austin Police Homicide Cold Case/Missing Persons Unit; and Sgt./Det. Amy Erlandson-LaPointe, and Boston Police Department Unsolved Homicide Squad.

Officials also thanked the genetic genealogists and volunteers of the DNA Doe Project for their assistance in making this identification possible.

Got a news tip? Please send it to tony.schinella@patch.com. View videos on Tony Schinella's YouTube.com channel or Rumble.com channel.