Cold Case: DNA Testing identifies Elizabeth Lamotte as dead body found in 1985

According to a release from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, a partially decomposing body found in 1985 has been identified as Elizabeth “Liz” Lamotte, a missing teenager from New Hampshire.

Elizabeth “Liz” Lamotte

Lamotte was last seen in November 22, 1984. She left the Youth Development Center on a furlough to Gill Stadium and never returned.

The body was found on Interstate 81, in Greene County, partially decomposing near exit 44. Authorities determined that the woman had been dead for weeks, ruling the case a homicide, but could not identified the victim at the time.

“That would have been about six months after (Lamotte) was last seen in Manchester, New Hampshire, so I’m sure the family has had questions all these years about what they could’ve done, what could be done to help find her, and now they know it wasn’t long after she went missing that she was killed,” Senior Assistant Attorney General Susan Morrell said.

An autopsy revealed that she died of blunt force trauma to the head about two to three weeks before her body was discovered.

Over 20 years later in 2006, a sample of the victim’s remains was submitted to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification. A DNA profile was developed and entered into the Combined DNA Index System in the hopes that she would one day be identified.

According to TBI, it wasn’t until last year that the Manchester Department in New Hampshire was able to obtain DNA samples from her family.

After all of that, there is a match.

Lamotte’s family has been notified that her remains were positively identified.

“I think they’re overwhelmed,” Morrell said. “I’m think they’re a bit in shock, because nobody really expects to get those answers.”

Anyone with information regarding Elizabeth Lamotte’s murder, specifically knowledge about individuals she may have been with in the days before she died, is asked to call the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-824-3463.

Serial killer Terry Peder Rasmussen, also known as Bob Evans, was active in the area during that time and remains a chief suspect.