NEARBY: DNA Used To ID Woman Years After Death, Detectives Seek Tips – LevittownNow.com

Kids playing in a small wooded area behind the Club House Diner on Street Road in Bensalem Township found something theyre likely to never forget on September 18, 1995.

The kids uncovered the skeletal remains of a

woman. The woman was unclothed and her remains wrapped in a plastic tarp. An autopsy revealed the womans remains had been there for two to three years and she died by an unspecified means of homicide.

Despite an ongoing investigation and tips over the years, Bensalem Township authorities werent able to identify her. In fact, they had ruled out numerous possible women who they suspected the body might have belonged to.

Over 50 missing women were excluded as being Jane Doe, police said in a statement.

In May 2004, Bensalem Township police exhumed the womans remains and sent samples to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification where a DNA profile was extracted and uploaded into the national CODIS system. It was all part of an attempt to identify her, and names were crossed out, but no positive identification was uncovered.

That changed recently.

Bensalem Township police said Monday they are confident the body belonged to Merrybeth Hodgkinson, who was 31 years old and lived in Warminster. She also was known to have lived on Rhawn Street in Philadelphia, the George Washington Motor Lodge, and the Oakford Inn.

Police said Hodgkinson disappeared in September 1992 after visiting with family. She was working at the time as an exotic dancer in Lower Bucks County.

BODE Technology, a DNA analysis firm area police have worked with for years, developed a DNA profile for the unknown womans remains in November 2021. Working with BODE and Jennifer Moore, of Innovative Forensic Investigations, police were able to link the body to Hodgkinson through GEDmatch and FamilyTreeDNA.com, companies that allow users to find relatives through DNA samples.

Police said they also tested the DNA of Hodgkinsons siblings as part of their investigation.

Hodgkinsons remains rest in Telford and her grave lists her as a Jane Doe.

No arrests have been made in connection with Hodgkinsons death.

Several items of interest were located near Hodgkinsons body in 1995. Police said theyre not sure if the items were connected, but they suspect some or all may have belonged to her.

A blue quilted sleeveless vest, a pink t-shirt with KPMG Peat Marwick, and a white T-shirt with Property of Alcatraz Penitentiary Swim Team, San Francisco printed on it were located. A brown beaded seat cushion (possibly used in an vehicle) and two crucifixes, one gold and one silver, were also found near the remains.

Police asked anyone who knew Hodgkinson or who may have information on the death to contact Bensalem Township Detective Chris McMullin at 215-633-3726 or Bucks County Detective Greg Beidler at 215-348-6344.

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NEARBY: DNA Used To ID Woman Years After Death, Detectives Seek Tips - LevittownNow.com