Body found in N.H. in 1971 is identified

DNA test ties case to woman who had vanished from home in Boston

More than 50 years after the body of a young woman was found in the woods off a highway in Bedford, N.H., authorities announced Monday she has been identified as a 26-year-old woman who vanished in 1971 while living on Beacon Street in Boston.

Katherine Ann Alston, who was born in Chelsea, graduated from Dorchester High School in 1963, and attended Boston College, was identified by investigators through forensic testing and assistance from the DNA Doe Project, a nonprofit that uses investigative genetic genealogy, according to a statement released by New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella.

“Today’s announcement by our Cold Case Unit is very important and I am proud of their difficult and very diligent work,” 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.”

The unit is now looking for the public’s help in finding Alston’s killer, according to authorities.

At the time of her murder, she was reportedly living at 36 Beacon St. in Boston with a roommate named David Cormier, whose age is unknown, and investigators are seeking information from anyone who knew Alston, Cormier, or others associated with her, according to the statement.

The New Hampshire State Police Major Crime Unit partnered with the DNA Doe Project between 2020 and 2022 and were able to discover a genetic match from Alston’s DNA profile with a family member from Texas who had taken a direct-to-consumer DNA test, according to authorities.

When contacted, Alston’s siblings told investigators that the family relocated from Massachusetts to Texas in 1971 and never saw or spoke with her after the move.

“Siblings reported that she was supposed to meet them at Logan Airport for their flight to Texas, but never showed up,” according to Formella’s statement. Her body was found on Oct. 6, 1971, at the end of Kilton Road near the Route 101 bypass.

Authorities determined she had been killed one to three months earlier. Investigators have not located any records showing that Alston was ever reported missing, according to the statement.

Alston had married a fellow college student, Ralph Lawson Garrett Jr., in Newton, in November 1967, but the couple later divorced.

He is deceased “and there is no evidence to suggest the divorce was not amicable,” according to the statement.