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NBC Washington
Cynthia Gastelle went missing 32 years ago; her remains were finally identified this week.
More than three decades after a Maryland teen went missing, the remains of Cynthia Gastelle have been identified.
Gastelle's family reported her missing on April 3, 1980. She was 18.
"We had hoped would come back," said Peter Gastelle, Cynthia's brother, during a press conference Wednesday. "We now know Cindy was taken from us. Our hope is gone, and our hearts are broken again.”
Two years after Gastelle vanished, skeletal remains were found on Bull Run Mountain in Haymarket, Va. Investigators never linked them to Gastelle, who lived about 45 miles away in Takoma Park, a suburb of Washington, D.C.
She didn't drive, so investigators believe she was brought to Virginia. Her remains were found in a secluded area of the woods, nearly a mile off Route 15.
Read the original story at NBC Washington
Over the years, her father would be called to examine remains and visit morgues, said another brother, Greg Gastelle.
In 2001, investigators entered DNA from the remains found on Bull Run Mountain into a national database. Last year, DNA from family members was collected in an unrelated case -- and last month, Prince William County police were notified of a match.
A forensic scientist credited advances in science over the last three decades.
Prior to his sister's disappearance, Peter Gastelle says, Cynthia Gastelle had been going to job interviews in Takoma Park. She had a GED and a cosmetology certificate, but had decided she didn't want to work in that field.
On the day she disappeared, one deli had called with a job offer.
But that night she didn't come home.
Now police are investigating the case as a homicide. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Solvers at 866-411-TIPS.
Police also would like to speak to the man in the picture below, who was in Takoma Park when Gastelle disappeared. Police said he is not a person of interest in the case.
NBC Washington
Police are looking to speak with this man for information into the disappearance of Cynthia Gastelle; they say he is not a person of interest.
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The police are looking to speak with the pictured man, but he is not a person of interest in the case.
Hmmmmm.
They must want to speak with him about something entirely unrelated, I suppose.
He looks a bit shaggy, but not completely stupid.
Ditto! Only he would know if he is truly a person of interest into this girl's disappearance and murder.
Just when you think you've gotten away with it.....BOOM.
I'm not so sure about the "BOOM" part of it, as you say.
After all, the name of that 1980 dude is not known, by police, or his name would not have been withheld. It seems clear that if he indeed WAS involved he would certainly look much, much different (and 32 years older) than that photo: and, he would just continue to stay in the "shadows".
Gee, I guess I should have inserted the word sarcasm for some.
My thoughts exactly!
He looks to young to have even been born when the murder occured, so, if it is a photo taken at the time of the murder, he would be in his fifties, so, why show this picture? I would guess he's probably balding and has a beer gut and double chins, or even possibly dead. The least they should do is show a drawing of this person aged, and how he would look today, even if he's not a person of interest, he may have saw something but didn't realize its significance.
Not necessarily ...Maybe he's a time lord and travels around in a tardis. If that's the case we need to find when is he. lol ; ))
looks too young? it's an old picture, idiot. they are showing this picture because someone might see it and say, "hey, that's <insert name here>".
@covelosid
LOOK AT THE CARS IN THE PHOTO, dufus! That is a photo from that time period! (I see a 1979 car behind him). And, those "aviator glasses and hair style", on that guy, are classic, for the late 1970s and into the early 1980s.
Have you spent any time outside this last decade cove? NO ONE and I mean NO ONE wears sun glasses that big with that kind of vest today! That is definitely vintage 70s attire. WAKE UP!
IDIOTS, they are showing the picture of what he looked like THEN as that's when she dissappeared and people TODAY might remember him from THEN and know his name and where abouts NOW. Come on people, i know it probably hurts but Try to use your brain and a little common sense and logic at least once in awhile.
That would take all of the fun out of irresponsible speculation.
@Robert-403050
I doubt if the police even HAVE any current information on that Hippy Dude. They probably obtained that photo from someone close to the case. But, it is confusing that they did not release his name. If they are saying he is "not a person of interest", only an IDIOT would step forward, if he actually WAS responsible, in any way.
That Hippie Dude will just want the dead past to remain dead, in my opinion.
Zoinks! We better get out of here Scoob!
...any chance we can get the police to stop calling missing teens runaways? and how about end the 48 hour wait. i always find my self saying... you really think that person ran away? really? its silly.
For the most part, they have LONG done away with the 48-hour waiting period, as well as assuming they ran away.
@Kevin
They call them "runaways" to avoid having to take more responsibility for immediate action, at the local Sheriff's office.
Even that little Elizabeth Smart, from Utah, was called a "runaway": so, the cops would not have to do anything. (Oddly, she even called HERSELF a runaway, after the whole thing was over, for her: talk about your brainwashed child, there!)
I saw the picture of that girl & thought "ugh... that hair was a lot like mine before I joined the Army". Then as I read more of the story, it gave me the chills... because it says she went missing on April 3rd, 1980 and that she was 18 years old... that date was exactly my 18th birthday. I was stationed in GY, so I never heard or read it in the news. Wow...
It was the same week my Dad passed away. So long ago. RIP little Farrah girl.
Kinda looks like etchy sketchy did back then.
Many condolences to the family. Waiting over three decades to finally learn the fate of a loved one must have been a very difficult time. I can only wonder at all the second guessing, personal questions, and replaying of previous events that went through their minds. I know that the word "closure" is overused, but in this case, I think I would be grateful to finally lay it all to rest.
We may never know the details of what happened, but rest assured, the fates have a way of bringing everything into balance.
Again, to the family and friends, please accept my sympathy on your loss.
YES if some one get's away with this they will have to face ther FATE, TAX & DEATH.
there
"their"
Now she can come home & rest in peace. Condolences to the family. I hope this gives you all some closure you need. Now if they can catch the killer. If they do, let the family have about 15 minutes alone with him.
Robert - my sentiments exactly - what idiots! You took the words out of my mouth. I they showed a picture of a childhood friend from years ago - I would recognize the picture better than if I hadn't seen the person in 30 yrs and they showed a recent picture. I've heard from friends that Bull Run Mountain used to be a big hangout years ago - lots of partying and drugs. Lots of people from Fairfax hung out there. So, who knows what might have happened. Her being from Takoma Park and ending up there is rather baffling though. Where's the guy in the picture from I wonder? I'm sure this case will be solved - DNA works magic.
Didn't anybody catch this - rather strange isn't it???? HOw many people are involved in DNA testing in their lives, let alone in an unrelated case. Suspicious to me.
@chillyinmn I noticed that, too. I thought it "odd" that there was some kind of "unrelated case" that required the family members' DNA extracted.
If a close relative was arrested for any crime they take DNA from the arrested party. So if the brother, mother or father was arrested for dui they would get dna sample taken. Hence unrelated
That means absolutely nothing! DNA could have been taking from them to determine whether or not they are related so someone who might have been put up for adoption. Who knows? Judge not lest ye be judged.
They probably tested the DNA from an unrelated case because they thought it might have been this girl. Not strange at all.
@Chillyinmn- The unrelated case was probably another missing person case that didn't quite match up to theirs but the authorities requested DNA samples from family members for comparison. Since there are and estimated 4,400 unidentified human remains cases every year and close to 100,000 active missing persons cases every year, getting DNA samples from family members into the CODIS DNA database for comparison to missing persons and unidentified remains is the best way for solving these cold cases where the police have no other leads.
@chris-3885031 I beg to differ, a bit, in the way the authors of the article worded things. They could have said that, from DNA samples given by family members some time ago, the woman buried at Bull Run Mountain, in 1980, was finally identified as being the victim & subject of the article.
Authors are so "un-creative", these days, in their write-ups.
I'm so glad they found her body, it brings the kind of closure the family needs to be able to lay her to rest instead of just going through life not knowing. I hope they are able to find who did this but I can't say I think they will without a serious break through. 30 years is a long time for evidence to disappear or the murderer to skip country. I truly believe that the 48 hour wait time that you have to adhere to when a person is missing is a very difficult thing to ask people to do. Sure there are some people out there that come back on their own but in many instances there is a good reason people are trying to report a missing person and 48 hours gives a kidnapper/murderer/molester/whatever, much time to commit their crime, hide the body and run off.
"Not a person of interest"? Boy, I hope none of us don't become persons of interest....wait, did I say that right?
@Dean-801011 That "police language" is certainly a dopey way of speaking. (Just as was the trucker language of that same period of time, with their "10-4, good buddy" nonsense).
When Broderick Crawford played "Dan Mathews", of HIGHWAY PATROL, back in the late 1950s, they used lame language, too, on their two-way radios. Instead of saying "over", they would always say "bye" (which was the same as "standby", instead of a goodbye).
LMAO
OMG! It's Hyde!
What a beautiful young lady. PIR honey. You're in a much better place than we are.
My thoughts and prayers to her family After all this time I am sure they are now feeling like it was yesterday and it has opened up old wounds. So sad this young lady never had the chance to have life. It makes me very sad when I see this. At least they know where she is now.
@JM in Texas....that is exactly what I thought when I saw the pic! You can find humor in anything I guess. My deepest sympathy to her family. I was almost a victim of an abduction around that time and I still can see it all so vividly in my mind...
I hope her family gets closure and the killer is caught if she was murdered
So they want to question the man in the photo but he is of no interest to police? Yeah that makes a lot of sense. Cops can never make an honest statement of any kind.
I was thinking that he reported seeing her in the vicinity or with someone in 1980 and they dismissed it and now NEED to look at the statement. THAT would make him not a person of interest.
Just a thought.
She reminds me of a little redhead named Prisilla that I was doing back in 1980.
Here's one for you since you have that name that I came up with[almost 30 years nursing] "other peoples' common sense'll kill you"
Looks kinda like Kristy Macnichols[sp] So sad