Summary

On November 13, 2000, police discovered the body of a young woman in the back of a parking lot at the Chelsea Soldiers' Home in Chelsea, Suffolk County, Massachusetts. The remains of a young woman were found wrapped beneath a black and white quilt. The young woman's body had been mutilated by her killer. Several years later, the victim's head and hands were found buried at a beach in Nahant, Massachusetts.

Surveillance footage captured a man as he dumped the woman's body in the parking lot. Investigators learned that the man was Eugene McCollom. McCollom eventually pleaded guilty to murder in February 2005, but he could not provide the woman's name, only that he knew her as "Lisa."

Over the years, multiple forensic composite sketches were developed and released to the public. Investigators worked tirelessly to identify "Lisa." Despite their investigative efforts, the young woman could not be identified. Details of the case were entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) as UP14135.

In 2023, the Massachusetts Office of Chief Medical Examiner submitted forensic evidence to Othram in The Woodlands, Texas to determine if advanced DNA testing could help identify the person. Othram scientists used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to build a comprehensive DNA profile for the woman. Upon development of the profile, investigators worked with the FBI's forensic genetic genealogy team to complete the necessary genealogical research to identify the young woman. This research resulted in new investigative leads.

Eventually, a reference DNA sample belonging to a close relative of "Lisa" was collected compared to Lisa's DNA profile using KinSNP® Rapid Relationship Testing. This comparison along with the investigative work of law enforcement led to the positive identification of the woman, who is now known to be Tiffany Bradley. Bradley was 16 years old and from Allentown, Pennsylvania. Bradley was an athlete who played on her school's basketball team and joined the ROTC.

Bradley was reported missing to police in Pennsylvania, where investigators believe that she was a victim of human trafficking. It is believed that Bradley met her killer shortly after arriving in the Boston area. McCollom killed Tiffany Bradley in his room at the Lynn, Massachusetts YMCA.

Advanced DNA testing conducted at Othram was paid for by NamUs, a national program that assists the criminal justice community with the investigation and resolution of missing, unidentified, and unclaimed persons cases across the United States and its territories. NamUs is funded and administered by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and is managed through a contract with Research Triangle Institute International (RTI).

This is the 12th publicly announced case in the State of Massachusetts where officials leveraged Othram's identity inference pipeline. You can view other cases on Othram's website.