<p>-
- She was last seen 51 years ago. Her remains have finally been found and identified.</p>
<p>Saleen Martin, USA TODAYJuly 10, 2025 at 11:37 PM</p>
<p>Remains found 51 years ago in a wooded New Hampshire area have been identified as a missing nurse and now, police want to find out how her remains ended up there.</p>
<p>The remains belong to Nancy Gale Erickson, a 21-year-old who once lived in the Tampa, Florida area, as well as Brattleboro, Vermont, the New Hampshire Department of Justice announced on July 9.</p>
<p>She was last seen in 1973 and the next year, her remains were found in a wooded New Hampshire area.</p>
<p>Her cause and manner of death are still undetermined, police said.</p>
<p>"After years of work on this case, putting a name to Nancy Gale Erickson is incredibly meaningful," New Hampshire State Police Detective Sgt. Kelly LaPointe said in a news release.. "It's more than solving a mystery — it's restoring her identity and honoring the life she lived."</p>
<p>Who was Nancy Erickson?</p>
<p>Nancy Gale Erickson, who was 21 when she was last seen or heard from in 1973.</p>
<p>Erickson was born in 1951 in New York and grew up in Elmira, about 38 miles southwest of Ithaca, police said. She earned her nursing degree from Corning Community College.</p>
<p>Between 1972 and 1973 when she was in her early 20s, she moved to Tampa, Florida to live with her mother and siblings. She worked as a nurse at Tampa General Hospital, then in 1973, she "abruptly left Tampa with a duffel bag and no known destination," police said in the news release.</p>
<p>According to police, her siblings think working in nursing may have been difficult for her emotionally, leading to her disappearance.</p>
<p>Police added that on Oct. 2, 1973, Erickson was arrested in Vermont for stealing a car. She told the judge the car ran out of gas and she was going to see friends in White River Junction, police said. According to her family, they got a call about her arrest but they had no idea who she may have known in Vermont.</p>
<p>Erickson was put on probation and stayed in Brattleboro, Vermont, where she worked at the Brattleboro Retreat, a nonprofit mental health hospital. At the time, she also lived at the Community House, a home that offers short-term stabilization housing. Suddenly, on Oct. 30, 1973, Erickson left her job and home and was never seen or heard from again.</p>
<p>Missing: He disappeared in 2010. Divers on Long Island think they may have found his remains.</p>
<p>Woman reported missing decades after she was last heard from</p>
<p>Nancy Gale Erickson was last seen or heard from on Oct. 30, 1973. Police say she left her job and home and disappeared.</p>
<p>The remains that were recently identified as Erickson's were found on April 16, 1974 in a wooded area in Marlborough, New Hampshire, police said. Based on a forensic analysis, she died in late fall 1973.</p>
<p>Before she was identified, all investigators knew was that she was white, aged 18 to 48, stood between 5-foot-2 and and 5-foot-6 inches tall, and she had reddish-brown hair.</p>
<p>When her remains were found, she had on a light brown corduroy coat with white fleece lining, a warm-up jacket, a plaid flannel shirt, off-white work trousers, brown low-cut work shoes, and mismatched socks.</p>
<p>She had no identification on her, and while her family had previously reported her missing in other states, it wasn't until 2021 that she was reported missing to the Brattleboro Police Department, police said.</p>
<p>Between 2022 to 2024, investigators completed forensic testing and found that the remains matched Erickson's siblings.</p>
<p>In April 2025, state police asked for information about the remains, calling it a "suspicious death."</p>
<p>"It is believed the remains may have been there since the latter part of 1973," police shared online. The death is considered suspicious."</p>
<p>'She was never forgotten'</p>
<p>Police want to speak to anyone who knew Erickson or had contact with her before her death, including:</p>
<p>Those she worked with at the Brattleboro Retreat.</p>
<p>Those who lived at the Community House in 1973.</p>
<p>Students at Corning Community College between 1971 and 1972.</p>
<p>Staff at Tampa General Hospital between 1972 and 1973.</p>
<p>Police ask that anyone with information contact the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit Tip Line at (800) 525-5555, email [email protected], or submit a tip at https://ift.tt/pt4G0AQ>
<p>According to police, identifying Erickson's remains was a joint effort among the New Hampshire State Police Forensic Laboratory, the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), Bode Technology, and the University of North Texas Health Science Center.</p>
<p>Police also thanked Erickson's siblings, Michael Erickson, Sandra Eslick, and Kevin Erickson.</p>
<p>"She was never forgotten," LaPointe, from the New Hampshire State Police, said in the news release. "We're deeply grateful to everyone whose efforts made this possible. Now the focus turns to understanding how and why she died."</p>
<p>Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Email her at [email protected].</p>
<p>This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nancy Erickson case: Remains found in New Hampshire identified</p>
<a href="https://ift.tt/3DfslrV" class="dirlink-1">Orign Aricle on Source</a>
Source: AOL General News
Source: AsherMag
Read More >> Full Article on Source: Astro Blog
#LALifestyle #USCelebrities