Finding Laura O’Malley’s remains brings a “small piece of closure” to her family, authorities tell PEOPLE
- Laura O’Malley was first reported missing from her New York home in 1975
- 20 years later, partial skeletal remains were found in a riverbed in California
- The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office announced on March 25 that the remains were identified as the missing girl, bringing some closure to her family
A family finally has some answers after a 13-year-old girl disappeared from her New York home 50 years ago.
Laura O’Malley, who was raised in Queens, was first reported missing in New York in August 1975, according to a press release posted by the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office on Facebook on Tuesday, March 25. Her family never heard from her again.
The teen girl’s remains were identified after they were discovered in a riverbed in Santa Cruz, Calif. in 1995, according to the sheriff’s office. The case was re-examined in 2019, leading to the 13-year-old girl’s identification with the help of Othram , a company that specializes in forensic DNA analysis…