The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Division simply made a significant breakthrough in a decades-old chilly case involving the mysterious murder of a Black lady. Although they’re nonetheless removed from finding the girl’s killer, new info solutions a main query within the case.
In July 1996, police discovered skeletal stays in a wooded space surrounding the Financial institution of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. In accordance with WCNC’s report, the stays had been taken by a medical expert and decided to belong to a girl. The examiner additionally dominated her method of dying to be a murder. Nonetheless, for years, that was the one info the cops needed to work with.
The race, age, and occupation of the girl went unknown. To not point out, police had been additionally on the hunt for a possible killer. It wasn’t till 2022 that the stays had been despatched for one other examination by a forensic anthropologist in Raleigh, about two hours north of Charlotte, the report says. The skeleton was then forwarded once more for additional examination, however to Texas as a substitute.
There, the report says researchers tried DNA testing however to no avail. Two years later, the medical expert’s workplace despatched extra bone samples which led to a groundbreaking discovery: the identification of the sufferer.
Authorities introduced final week the girl is known as Betty Jean Benton, born in Louisiana on Feb. 27, 1954. The report says detectives contacted her household, who confirmed they stopped listening to from her round 1991. She was reported lacking the next yr.
Although placing a reputation to the girl was a significant breakthrough within the case, the CMPD Chilly Case Unit remains to be on the hunt for a suspected assassin. Anybody with details about Betty Jean Benton or her actions in North Carolina is urged to contact detectives at 704-432-TIPS.