Investigators were unable to identify the woman until 2021.
In a shocking case, a retired man living in US' Florida was arrested after he confessed to the murder of his girlfriend after nearly 50 years, New York Post reported. According to the US Attorney's Office, the elderly man, now 81, told police that he felt terrible for what he had done and ''had to come clean.''
The man, identified as Rodney Mervyn Nichols, admitted that he killed his girlfriend Jewell Langford in 1975 after a quarrel. He also revealed that he later dumped Ms. Langford's body in a nearby river.
He was subsequently arrested by local authorities at the North-Lake Retirement Home in Hollywood, Florida, on July 25 on charges filed by the Ontario Provincial Police.
''Following a telephone consultation with a legal aid lawyer in Canada, NICHOLS then stated that he had an altercation with LANGFORD that started in his home in Montreal and that he subsequently dumped her body in the Nation River,'' a court document states.
Investigators were unable to identify the woman until 2021.
The crime dates back to May 3, 1975, when authorities discovered a body floating face-down, with her hands and feet bound using neckties, in the Nation River in eastern Ontario. An autopsy report revealed that the victim died of strangulation by the neck.
Canadian authorities exhumed the victim's body in 2018, allowing the Centre of Forensic Sciences (CFS) to establish a DNA profile.
"During the intervening 47 years, forensic artist's renderings, a 3D facial approximation (created in 2017), a dedicated tip line, and descriptions of evidence accompanied several public appeals for information by the OPP to identify the victim and any potential suspects without success," reads a press release on the arrest.
Nichols, who was previously questioned in 1975, was not considered a suspect in her disappearance. However, his statements at the time were inconsistent and provided little clarity. leading to him being interviewed again in 2022. Eventually, he confessed to the murder.
Authorities also matched a blood sample taken from Ms. Langford's clothing in 2011 to Nichols' DNA, leading to his arrest.
“This is believed to be the first case in Canada of this nature to identify human remains through Forensic Genealogy,” the press release further stated.