Cynthia Gastelle's Remains Identified: 32 Years Later, Cops Link Remains To Missing Woman

Police found the skeletal remains of Cynthia Gastelle in 1982, two years after she was reported missing -- but they didn't realize they had her body until last month.

Gastelle was reported missing from her home in Takoma Park, Md. on April 3, 1980, when she was 18 years old, according to the Washington Post.

Nearly two years later, on Feb. 12, investigators found skeletal remains off a road in Haymarket.

In 2001, after two decades and considerable improvements in technology, Gastelle's DNA was entered into a national database, NBC reported. The same year, Gastelle's family collected another relative's DNA in an unrelated case, leading investigators to positively identify the missing woman's body last month -- 11 years later.

Now the cold case has opened back up, and cops are looking for help in solving Gastelle's murder. Anyone with information should call Crime Solvers at 866-411-TIPS.

Stay tuned as Gastelle's brother Peter is scheduled to make a public announcement today.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misidentified the town where Gastelle was reported missing.