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Cold case breakthrough: Child found in Fairfax County creek identified after more than 50 years
CRIME
Cold case breakthrough: Child found in Fairfax County creek identified after more than 50 years
The decades-long mystery was solved thanks to advanced DNA technology and dedicated investigative work.
Author: Matt Pusatory (WUSA9), Troy Pope
Published: 5:50 AM EDT August 4, 2025
Updated: 5:22 PM EDT August 4, 2025
LORTON, Va. — A mystery that haunted Fairfax County investigators for more than half a century has finally been solved. Police announced Monday that they have identified the young boy found dead under a bridge in Lorton in 1972 as Carl Matthew Bryant, a 4-year-old from Philadelphia.
Carl’s body was discovered on June 13, 1972, by a boy riding his bike home from school. The child spotted the body beneath the Old Colchester Road bridge and alerted his mother, who called police. Carl was found unclothed, and an autopsy later determined he had died from blunt force trauma approximately six hours before his body was discovered.
At the time, investigators had no missing persons reports that matched the boy’s description. He remained unidentified for decades, buried in Coleman Cemetery in Alexandria under a headstone that was later washed away in a 2012 derecho storm.
A breakthrough from a strand of hair
The case saw renewed momentum thanks to the foresight of crime scene officers in 1972 who preserved a small sample of Carl’s hair during his autopsy. That sample—less than 2 millimeters in length—was stored in the case file for decades. In 2004, the FBI extracted DNA from the hair, but no match was found.
{snip}
Credit: Center for Missing and Exploited Children
{snip}
Cold case breakthrough: Child found in Fairfax County creek identified after more than 50 years
The decades-long mystery was solved thanks to advanced DNA technology and dedicated investigative work.
Author: Matt Pusatory (WUSA9), Troy Pope
Published: 5:50 AM EDT August 4, 2025
Updated: 5:22 PM EDT August 4, 2025
LORTON, Va. — A mystery that haunted Fairfax County investigators for more than half a century has finally been solved. Police announced Monday that they have identified the young boy found dead under a bridge in Lorton in 1972 as Carl Matthew Bryant, a 4-year-old from Philadelphia.
Carl’s body was discovered on June 13, 1972, by a boy riding his bike home from school. The child spotted the body beneath the Old Colchester Road bridge and alerted his mother, who called police. Carl was found unclothed, and an autopsy later determined he had died from blunt force trauma approximately six hours before his body was discovered.
At the time, investigators had no missing persons reports that matched the boy’s description. He remained unidentified for decades, buried in Coleman Cemetery in Alexandria under a headstone that was later washed away in a 2012 derecho storm.
A breakthrough from a strand of hair
The case saw renewed momentum thanks to the foresight of crime scene officers in 1972 who preserved a small sample of Carl’s hair during his autopsy. That sample—less than 2 millimeters in length—was stored in the case file for decades. In 2004, the FBI extracted DNA from the hair, but no match was found.
{snip}
Credit: Center for Missing and Exploited Children
{snip}
6 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
We have your name, Carl. Now rest in peace. 
DNA breakthrough IDs boy found dead 53 years ago in Lorton, turns up more unanswered questions
Thomas Robertson | trobertson@wtop.com
August 4, 2025, 4:20 PM
Fairfax County police announced the identity of a child whose body was found in Massey Creek under the Old Colchester Road Bridge in Lorton in 1972. (Courtesy National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and Fairfax County police)
A 4-year-old boy who was found dead in Lorton, Virginia, more than 50 years ago, and whose name has remained a mystery, has finally been identified after a flood of tips, a series of DNA tests and decades of twists and turns. … Fairfax County police Chief Kevin Davis announced the breakthrough Monday, saying the child’s identification has led police to two people who are believed to have been involved in his killing, and another missing boy whose body has never been discovered.
The case of the boy, identified as 4-year-old Carl Matthew Bryant, confounded police and the public for decades. According to Assistant Chief Brooke Wright, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received more tips on Bryant’s case than any other in the state of Virginia.
Bryant’s body was found under the Old Colchester Road Bridge in Lorton on June 13, 1972, by a boy who was biking home from school. Bryant was killed by blunt force trauma and remained unidentified, as there were no matching missing person reports.
Police examine the scene where Carl Bryant’s body was found in 1972. (Courtesy Fairfax County police)
“There was no match, so I want to say 2016, they tried to get more DNA, so we thought to try to exhume Carl’s body from Coleman Cemetery in Alexandria, but unfortunately his tombstone had been washed away from the derecho that happened in 2012,” cold case detective Melissa Wallace said. … Then, recently, a breakthrough. A forensics company called Astrea was able to use genetic genealogy to trace the boy’s DNA to his mother, a woman named Vera Bryant, who had died in 1980.
{snip}
Thomas Robertson | trobertson@wtop.com
August 4, 2025, 4:20 PM
Fairfax County police announced the identity of a child whose body was found in Massey Creek under the Old Colchester Road Bridge in Lorton in 1972. (Courtesy National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and Fairfax County police)
A 4-year-old boy who was found dead in Lorton, Virginia, more than 50 years ago, and whose name has remained a mystery, has finally been identified after a flood of tips, a series of DNA tests and decades of twists and turns. … Fairfax County police Chief Kevin Davis announced the breakthrough Monday, saying the child’s identification has led police to two people who are believed to have been involved in his killing, and another missing boy whose body has never been discovered.
The case of the boy, identified as 4-year-old Carl Matthew Bryant, confounded police and the public for decades. According to Assistant Chief Brooke Wright, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received more tips on Bryant’s case than any other in the state of Virginia.
Bryant’s body was found under the Old Colchester Road Bridge in Lorton on June 13, 1972, by a boy who was biking home from school. Bryant was killed by blunt force trauma and remained unidentified, as there were no matching missing person reports.
Police examine the scene where Carl Bryant’s body was found in 1972. (Courtesy Fairfax County police)
“There was no match, so I want to say 2016, they tried to get more DNA, so we thought to try to exhume Carl’s body from Coleman Cemetery in Alexandria, but unfortunately his tombstone had been washed away from the derecho that happened in 2012,” cold case detective Melissa Wallace said. … Then, recently, a breakthrough. A forensics company called Astrea was able to use genetic genealogy to trace the boy’s DNA to his mother, a woman named Vera Bryant, who had died in 1980.
{snip}
