Nearly 56 years after a headless, handless body turned up along a rural stretch of Davis Hill Road in Andover, state investigators say they finally know who he was. The remains, recovered on March 20, 1970, were identified this month as 35-year-old Clyde A. Coppage, who authorities say was living in Genesee, Pennsylvania, when he disappeared. DNA collected in 2022 made the match possible, but investigators say the homicide is still unsolved and the probe remains active.
State police confirm identity
As reported by FOX 29, New York State Police formally named the victim as Clyde A. Coppage and said laboratory testing of DNA collected in 2022 led to the identification earlier this month. Officials did not release additional details about how the DNA was processed or which laboratory handled the analysis. Investigators say there are no public suspects at this time.
Scene and case history
Public case files and archival reports show the body was discovered stripped of clothing and missing the head and hands, with an X carved into the chest, details that shut down traditional identification methods for decades. Records in national missing and unidentified databases such as NamUs and contemporaneous newspaper clippings from 1970 describe the recovery as a homicide investigation. With no face for visual recognition and no hands for fingerprinting, the case went cold until modern DNA techniques could finally be brought to bear.
DNA breakthrough and a wider trend
State police say DNA preserved or collected in 2022 was reexamined with modern techniques and used to establish a match to Coppage. Advances in forensic DNA testing and investigative genetic genealogy have helped agencies identify long-unidentified victims across the country, speeding up identifications that once seemed impossible. The Washington Post has documented similar DNA driven breakthroughs in New York and elsewhere as laboratories and cold case units lean on new tools to reopen old files.
How to help
New York State Police say the investigation into Coppage's death remains active and are asking anyone with information about him or the March 1970 discovery to contact investigators. The department's public newsroom includes directions for submitting tips and records requests through the agency website: New York State Police Newsroom. Police did not say whether additional public updates are planned as detectives continue to work the case.
