BILLERICA, Mass.—Human remains found in a Massachusetts river this week have been positively identified as those of a 17-year-old girl who went missing almost 40 years ago, authorities said Friday.
The remains were confirmed as belonging to Judith Chartier through dental records, according to a statement from the office of Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan.
The remains were found Wednesday in the Concord River in Billerica in 10 feet of water about 15 to 20 yards from shore, the day after pieces of the car Chartier was driving the night she disappeared were located in the water. Divers also found clothing and Chartier’s laminated work ID.
Chartier, who lived in Chelmsford, was last seen at around 2 a.m. on June 5, 1982 when she left a party in Billerica, authorities said.
The state medical examiner’s office and a forensic anthropologist will now work with the district attorney’s office to reconstruct the remains in an attempt to determine a cause of death, Ryan said.
Ryan has previously said that it is too early to say whether the teen’s disappearance was the result of foul play.
Chartier’s surviving siblings have been kept abreast of developments, the district attorney said. Her parents have died.
