No arrests had been made for the case of the murdered New Jersey teen Nancy Noga until September of this year, with the help of DNA and local detectives.
A man has been charged in the 1999 murder of a New Jersey high school teen.
Nancy Kathleen Noga, a Sayreville high school student, was reported missing on January 7, 1999, when she did not return home from her job.
Five days later, a man walking his dog near the entrance of the teen’s apartment complex found her body, face down and frozen in the snow.
According to Sayreville Police Chief John Zebrowski, the detectives on the case conducted more than 500 interviews following Noga’s unsolved murder, but no arrests were made.
Bruce Cymanski, 49, has now been charged with first-degree murder, as well as kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, the local police said.
Earlier reports said that the 17-year-old had not been sexually assaulted or robbed, but had been bludgeoned to death with a tree limb.
Eventually, the detectives on the case retired and were replaced, but they continued to search for the culprit, leading to Cymanski being identified in part through genetic genealogy done by CeCe Moore, the chief genetic genealogist for the Virginia-based Parabon Nanolabs, according to authorities.
Cymanski was found to be a suspect through a joint investigation with both Zebrowski’s detectives and investigators with the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office alongside witness statements, according to his arrest warrant.
“In the decades since Nancy Noga’s death, law enforcement has relentlessly pursued justice on her behalf,” said Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone in a joint statement.
“The advancement of modern scientific tools has allowed that endeavor to enter a new chapter.”
Police said that Cymanski was arrested on September 1 after a foot pursuit and is currently being held in the Middlesex County Jail.
