An elderly Oklahoma man at the center of a decades-old cold case in Nebraska has been arrested on suspicion of brutally killing a teenage girl, according to reports.
Joseph A. Ambrose, 77, was arrested Monday by federal marshals during a raid on his Ponca City home that killed 17-year-old Mary Kay Heath, who was found stabbed to death in a ditch more than half a century ago. was indicted on charges of. That was 1969 years ago.
The circumstances leading to Ambrose's arrest remain unclear, but investigators exhumed Heath's body in September, which the Saunders County Attorney's Office said helped provide evidence implicating him in the crime.
The teenager, a senior at Wahoo High School and known by his teachers as “shy” and “nice,” was last seen leaving track and field practice on a March afternoon 55 years ago. After that, I was sipping hot chocolate with my classmates at a cafe. According to Carney Hub.
Heath was later seen walking down the street just six blocks from his home, but did not show up for dinner, the newspaper reported.
Investigators believe she may have gotten into a car driven by an acquaintance, and although there was no sign of her overnight, the next morning her textbooks were found on the side of the road more than three miles outside of town. It was found abandoned.
When officers searched the scene, they found Mr Heath's body in a nearby ditch with more than a dozen stab wounds to his abdomen.
Evidence suggests she was not wearing shoes and fled the vehicle before being chased, overpowered and killed.
More than 700 people were investigated over the years before the case was finally solved.
“It's crazy,” said Shawn Schaefer, who lived next door to the house Ambros moved into just two weeks ago, when he saw the old man breathing with the help of oxygen. I remembered.
“1969. That was a long time ago. I mean, it's just as crazy as anyone would do something like that,” he said. told KFOR.
“It really makes you wonder what else he could have done during those years,” said Christian Williams, another neighbor.
Ambrose is scheduled to be extradited to Nebraska for trial.
Heath's parents both died several years before her murder suspect was arrested.
