Patricia Ann Tucker identified as 'Granby girl' in 1978 cold case murder
GRANBY — Nearly 45 years after her body was found in western Massachusetts, the young woman known as the "Granby girl" has been identified as 28-year-old Patricia Ann Tucker.
The Northwest District Attorney's Office held a news conference Monday at the Granby Police station to announce the major breakthrough in the case.
A group of kids playing on a logging road off of Amherst Street in Granby found her body on November 15, 1978 buried under a pile of leaves, stuffed underneath a log. She had been shot in the temple, investigators said. They believed she was killed about three months earlier in August 1978.
But they were never able to identify her and she was buried in a Granby cemetery with a headstone marked "unknown."
First Assistant District Attorney Steven Gagne said advances in DNA technology allowed them to find Tucker's half-sister in Maryland who led them to Tucker's son. He was just five years old when she vanished.
"While it's satisfying to finally know who 'Granby Girl' actually was, the investigation won't stop until we identify her killer and bring the family an additional measure of closure and justice," Gagne said Monday. "This investigation has spanned decades, and will continue until each and every possible lead is explored."
Gagne said Tucker was married to Gerald Coleman and they were living in East Hampton, Connecticut at the time of her death. Gagne said Coleman never reported his wife missing. He died in prison in Massachusetts in 1996. Gagne said Coleman is now a "person of interest" in her murder.
Tucker had earlier gone by married names Patricia Heckman, Patricia Dale and later Patricia Coleman at the time of her disappearance.
Anyone with information about the case should call Granby Police at 413-467-9222 or email jwhite@granbypd.org
