A New York man has been arrested in connection with the 1976 murder of his pregnant teenage girlfriend.
Luis Siera, 63, was charged with murder and is awaiting extradition to Pennsylvania.
The remains of Evelyn Colon, 15, were discovered along the Lehigh River on December 20, 1976. She was dismembered and placed in three suitcases, along with her new full-term baby daughter.
Colon had been living with Sierra, who was 19-years-old, at the time of her disappearance. Her family described Siera as abusive and said Colon was afraid of him.
The family told CNN that they received a letter from Siera saying that he and Colon were ok, but she did not wish to have any contact with her family. Her family believed she would reach out when she was ready. She was never reported missing and was listed as “Beth Doe” by investigators.
Colon was identified through a DNA match to her nephew. He had submitted his DNA to multiple genealogy sites in the hopes that his aunt would be matched.
“I get notified that ‘Hey, your DNA was matched to a victim of a homicide,'” Luis Colon Jr., her nephew, said. “So we got in touch, and they asked me, ‘Do you know anyone in your family?’ and I immediately, once they reached out to me, I knew it was her.”
Now, the family is preparing to give Colon and her daughter, who they named Emily Grace, the proper goodbye she never received.
