‘Chelsea Jane Doe’ identified as Pennsylvania teenager 26 years after murder
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Authorities have identified a Pennsylvania teenager nearly 26 years after he was killed in a rare case in which investigators knew the killer’s identity long before they knew the victim’s name.
The Boston FBI office, the Massachusetts State Police and the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday that “Chelsea Jane Doe” has been identified as Tiffany Bradley, a 16-year-old from Allentown, Pennsylvania, through advanced DNA testing and genetic testing.
Bradley’s killer, Eugene McCollom, pleaded guilty years ago and is serving a life sentence. But despite the conviction, investigators have spent decades trying to identify the young victim.
“We have been waiting for this day for a long time,” said Col. Geoffrey Noble of the Massachusetts State Police during a press conference. “It is unusual for there to be a case like this, where he knew the name of the suspect before the name of the victim.”
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Police found Bradley’s remains on November 13, 2000, in the parking lot of the Military Home in Chelsea, Massachusetts, about 315 miles from his hometown.
At a news conference on Wednesday, Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden described what happened to investigators.
“They found the body of an unknown woman,” Hayden said. “The sad thing is that he was cut in half. He had no head and no hands.”
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Family members and law enforcement officials participate in a news conference announcing the identification of Tiffany Bradley, the Pennsylvania teenager who was known as “Chelsea Jane Doe” for nearly 26 years. (Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office)
Authorities said McCollom, who remains in custody, confessed to killing Bradley after arriving in the Boston area and later told investigators where more remains were buried.
According to the FBI, Bradley had been smuggled across federal lines before his death.
Authorities said advances in DNA technology and genealogy have finally allowed investigators to identify Bradley and notify his family nearly 26 years after his death.
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“Today, we can finally say her name: Tiffany Bradley of Allentown, Pennsylvania,” the FBI Boston office wrote in a Facebook post announcing the breakthrough.
For Bradley’s family, the identification ended decades of unanswered questions.
“His last conversation with his favorite cousin was cut short by his shaking voice, saying, ‘I’ll call you later. I have to go,'” Bradley’s relative, Shakira Wiggins, said during a news conference. “That call never came and it was replaced for 26 years, I’ve been waiting, wondering why.”
Wiggins thanked the investigators for continuing to follow the case long after the killer was exposed.
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“It’s amazing that, after 26 years, people care enough to give him a name and bring him back to our family,” she said. “The wheels of justice run slowly, but surely.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the FBI’s Boston field office for further comment but did not immediately receive a response.
