Georgia investigators identify man who killed Michigan woman nearly 34 years ago
DADE COUNTY, Ga. (CBS DETROIT) - Investigators in Georgia have identified a man who they say killed a Michigan woman nearly 34 years ago.
According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), authorities named Henry Fredrick Wise (also known as Hoss Wise) as the man responsible for the death of Stacey Chahorski, of Norton Shores.
On Dec.16, 1988, a woman's body was found by the Dade County Sheriff's Office, about 5 miles from the Alabama Stateline on Interstate 59.
Chahorski, who was reported missing in January 1989, was identified as the victim 33 years later.
Investigators tried to identify the victim over the years and even utilized clay renderings composites to recreate what she would look like.
The case was reassigned in the mid-2000s and authorities uncovered additional evidence, which analysts used to create a DNA profile of the victim.
In 2015, the case was reassigned again and agents made new clay renderings and composites to show the progression of age.
With the help of a new type of genealogy investigation, Chahorski was identified in March 2022.
Authorities say GBI agents sought the FBI for assistance on the case and identified Wise as Chahorski's killer through advanced testing, interviewing family and obtaining further DNA for comparison.
Wise, who was 34 at the time, was a truck driver and traveled through Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Birmingham, Alabama, to Nashville. Investigators say Wise had a criminal record and his arrests predated mandatory DNA testing after a felony arrest.
In 1999, he was killed in a car crash at Myrtle Beach Speedway in South Carolina.
