In 1972, a terrible discovery was made in a creek in the Lorton area — the body of a little boy who died from blunt force trauma. He was found under the Old Colchester Road Bridge in what’s now called Giles Creek.
For 53 years, his identity has been unknown — until now. Thanks to the work of cold case detectives and sophisticated DNA technology, the child has been identified as 4-year-old Carl Matthew Bryant.
Police also now believe his infant brother was killed too.
Police tried for decades to identify the child and match him with missing children.
“Now we knock on the door of genetic genealogy,” said Chief Kevin Davis with Fairfax County police at a press conference.
Long before DNA was used to solve crimes, the original detective kept a sample of the child’s hair.
Fast forward five decades — Fairfax cold case detectives took that sample to a company called Astrea Forensics in California. They developed a DNA profile that could be used for genetic genealogy.
“The lab, Astrea in California, had said normally they require 2 cm of hair to do testing, and I said well I don’t even know if I have 2 mm to send you, and they said send it anyways and we’ll see what we can do, and they were able to develop a profile,” said cold case Detective Melissa Wallace.
Detectives identified a possible relative of the boy’s that led them to Philadelphia. Working with police there, they discovered a woman named Vera Bryant had two sons, Carl and James.
She’d traveled with her partner, James Hedgepeth, to Virginia in 1972. The boys never returned, and Bryant never reconnected with family in Philly.
“They didn’t even know to ask about the kids because Vera didn’t let them know she was back, so that family tie had been broken at that point,” Wallace said.
The couple is no longer alive, so Bryant’s body was exhumed. Her DNA confirmed the victim was her son, Carl Matthew Bryant.
Police also believe her infant James was also killed, his body also dumped someplace along the route.
“We believe both boys have been murdered on June 13, 1972 between Pennsylvania and Virginia,” said Fairfax County police Assistant Chief Brooke Wright.
At the press conference, Carl’s cousins stood alongside police and his aunt was in the audience.
They found it too difficult to take questions, but the detective explained why this case was so important to her.
“I have my own son,” Wallace said. “I think most of us are parents here, and to see the extent of that boy’s injuries and what he had suffered through, I’m happy to be here today announcing that at least we’ve identified him.”
Carl’s father was never known. The father of the infant, James, has been notified about his child’s fate.
Thanks to a charitable organization, Carl had a proper burial many years ago in a cemetery in the Ft. Hunt area. But during a 2012 derecho, his marker was washed away. Fairfax County police are hoping to put a bench there to finally be able to honor the little boy’s memory by
engraving his name on it.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
