On September 23 1981, 13-year-old Heather Porter went missing from her Halethorpe neighborhood. A day later, a man walking his dog discovered the teen’s body in a wooded area near Ridgewood Road and Goucher Boulevard in Towson. Based on the condition of the victim’s body, investigators believed the person responsible dragged the girl’s body into the woods. An autopsy later determined the teen had been strangled and sexually assaulted.
While detectives had a DNA sample of the suspect, it has taken decades and advancements in DNA technology to identify a suspect. Baltimore County detectives with the BCoPD Homicide Cold Case Squad, reviewed the Porter case and requested the suspect’s DNA profile be submitted for forensic genealogy. Bode Technology analyzed the sample and forwarded their results to the FBI for further analysis.
In February of 2021, results identified John Anthony Petrecca, Jr., as a possible suspect in the murder of 13-year-old Heather Porter. A check of Petrecca’s criminal history showed prior arrests for rape in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Baltimore County Homicide Cold Case detectives determined, at the time of the killing, Petrecca resided in the 100 block of Ridge Ave., in Halethorpe, Maryland. The location is a short distance from where Heather Porter was last seen.
In an effort to identify Porter’s killer, detectives obtained written authorization from the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office to exhume Petrecca’s remains.On the morning of March 11, 2021, police personnel and members from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner gathered at a local cemetery in Baltimore County where Petrecca was buried in 2000.DNA recovered during the exhumation process was sent to Bode Technology for processing.
On November 12, 2021, detectives learned the DNA obtained from Petrecca matched that of the suspect’s DNA profile. As a result of advances in forensic technology, Heather Porter’s family members now know the identity of the person who took their loved ones life. The Baltimore County Police Department would like to thank Bode Technology, the Hackerman Foundation and the FBI for their expert analysis, assistance and support in solving this cold case.
https://www.baltimorecountymd.gov/departments/police/news/2021/12/01/baltimore-county-detectives-solve-40-year-old-homicide
Hey everyone. This might be a tall order but I'm looking to find a church to get involved in. The problem is I really have never found a church service I liked. Mainly because of just a ton of really bad Christian songs being shoved down my throat (looking at you lighthouse)
So that's really my only requirement and obviously no shaming. I'm almost more interested in a spiritual church more than a Christian church if that's a thing. I'm in recovery and Im a spiritual not religious individual I'd like to keep it that way it's been working well for me.
Appreciate the help!
Last night's topic, Responsible Regionalism, was defined as: Ensure that all local proposals account for, connect with, and support the plans of adjacent jurisdictions and the surrounding region.
I appreciate the efforts of all the civil servants involved in last night's meeting but I couldn't help but feel a little hopeless after the meeting ended.
I'm not convinced Baltimore City or other neighboring counties have a way to effectively work together, and most of the ideas participants shared were just about fixing their own problems that have nothing to do with the surrounding region.
My low point was when our group was in the midst of a healthy transit discussion that was brought back down to earth with a resident reminded us all that the state's MDOT controls all the funds and decision making. A point about joining/forming a Baltimore Regional Transit Authority (BRTA) proposed by the Baltimore Region Transportation Board (BRTB) in 2021 didn't land at all. Despite the benefit of a BRTA-like model which would finally grant the region the ability to make decisions on spending transit dollars, the group simply didn't believe in the idea. Hogan and MDOT have crushed everyone's dreams on a better transportation future with years of shit spending, and nobody seems to think we can take the power away from MDOT. It's a shame - a BRTA aligns with the Responsible Regionalism portion of the master plan.
Anybody else have any takeaways?
