Missing Teen From New London Identified As Murder Victim In Texas

More than 30 years after she went missing, a 15-year-old New London girl has been positively identified in Texas, the victim of a homicide. 

Born June 3, 1967, Michelle Garvey was last seen in New London on June 1, 1982. She was reported as missing person, a runaway who may have been heading to either New Jersey or North Carolina, but her trail went cold.  

On August 29, 2013, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children contacted the Connecticut State Police Missing Person Unit and requested assistance in a criminal investigation. The case involve an unidentified teenage girl whose body had been found in an open field in Houston on July 1, 1982. Texas police had ruled her death a homicide.  

Unaware of the Connecticut missing person investigation, Harris County Institute of Forensic Science's medical examiner had exhumed the unidentified body in an effort to obtain DNA samples. Those samples were entered into the NamUs databank.  

After being contacted by the Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Connecticut State Police Missing Person Detectives initiated an investigation and met with family members of the missing female. DNA reference samples were taken and submitted to the University of North Texas in Fort Worth, Texas, which is the science laboratory component of NamUs.  

With DNA samples to use as a comparison, the unidentified murder victim has now been positively identified as Michelle Garvey, the missing teen from New London. State police say Garvey's family has been notified of the identification and efforts are being made to have her body returned to Connecticut for burial. 

Connecticut State Police Missing Person Unit is continuing to investigate the case.