Pocono News Section

Break in 22 year old unsolved death

Break in 22 year old unsolved death - Friday, January 11, 2008 at 6:12PM EST

Friday, Jan 11, 2008 @06:12pm EST

We haven't heard much about it in 20 years, but detectives have never stopped thinking about the death of a 13 year old David Reed of Schuylkill Haven.

The boy's badly decomposed body was found in a wooded area of Schuylkill County in 1985 and was ruled suspicious.

State police will exhume the body of David Reed.

They think new testing could prove someone killed him.

But what led state police to this decision, after years of not hearing much, is still unclear.

State police are ready to push forward with David Reed's death investigation.

State Police Captain Steven Johnson says, "We never close death investigations until they're solved, or explained. So it's satisfaction for the level of the investigators that it's moved to this point."

Investigators say exhuming his body, then performing a second autopsy and DNA testing, could prove he was murdered.

"We believe that the reexamination of the body will give us a definitive answer to yes or no. If it's yes, we move forward to our homicide investigation, and like every other homicide investigation we hope for a successful arrest," says Johnson.

Captain Johnson says the death always looked suspicious, but there wasn't enough evidence to prove homicide.

Reed disappeared from his house on Penn Street in Schuylkill haven in august of 1985.

His body was found in Cressona Borough 6 months later.

State Police won't say what clues led them to the decision to exhume reed's body.

County coroner Joseph Lipsett is also tight lipped about what tests will be ran on reed's body.

"Looking at several key factors based on our investigation. What are those factors? Well those factors we can't discuss right now because it's actually part of the investigation," says Lipsett.

For now, Lipsett and investigators are working on a date to exhume reed's body, and move forward.

If this case is changed to homicide, state police wouldn't say if an arrest would be made

immediately

They say releasing any information at this point, could hurt the investigation that seems to be taking a new turn.