{"id":28672,"date":"2022-02-11T22:37:19","date_gmt":"2022-02-11T22:37:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/?p=28672"},"modified":"2022-02-11T22:37:19","modified_gmt":"2022-02-11T22:37:19","slug":"college-genealogist-dna-help-solve-57-year-old-rape-murder-of-9-year-old-pennsylvania-girl-kiro-7-news-seattle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/2022\/02\/11\/college-genealogist-dna-help-solve-57-year-old-rape-murder-of-9-year-old-pennsylvania-girl-kiro-7-news-seattle\/","title":{"rendered":"College genealogist, DNA help solve 57-year-old rape, murder of 9-year-old Pennsylvania girl \u2013 KIRO 7 News Seattle"},"content":{"rendered":"

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HAZLETON, Pa. \u2014 Marise Ann Chiverella aspired to become a nun someday.<\/p>\n

The 9-year-old Pennsylvania girl\u2019s dreams were cut short one Wednesday morning in 1964 when she vanished while taking canned goods to her church before school. Her body was found hours later; she had been raped and murdered.<\/p>\n

On Thursday<\/a>, more than half a century after Marise was slain, Pennsylvania State Police officials announced that cold case detectives have identified the girl\u2019s killer.<\/p>\n

James Paul Forte died in May 1980 at the age of 39, authorities said. At the time of Marise\u2019s murder, Forte was 22 years old.<\/p>\n

>> Read more trending news<\/b><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

He was identified as the girl\u2019s killer through DNA and genetic genealogy. The Chiverella case is the fourth oldest in the U.S. solved through the investigative technique, and the fourth oldest in Pennsylvania, according to Cpl. Mark Baron, the lead investigator on the case.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a very important day for our department,\u201d Baron said Thursday during a news conference<\/a>. \u201cIt is also an important day for the Hazleton community as a whole. This was a violent and heinous crime that was committed against a small child.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baron broke down in tears as he spoke.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though it took nearly 58 years for this case to be solved, I think this should instill in the families of victims across the state and across the country a sense of hope,\u201d the detective said<\/a>. \u201cThat hope is that no matter how long it may take, we, as law enforcement, will never give up in trying to find the perpetrators of these heinous crimes that go on. God willing, in life or in death, you will be found.\u201d<\/p>\n

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DNA cold case: <\/span>Pennsylvania State Police Cpl. Mark Baron wipes his eyes of tears Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022, during a news conference in Hazleton. Baron was the lead investigator on the cold case murder of Marise Ann Chiverella, 9, who was abducted, raped and murdered March 18, 1964, as she walked to school. DNA has identified James Paul Forte, who died in 1980, as her killer. <\/span>(John Haeger\/Standard-Speaker via AP)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Forte\u2019s family was cooperative with the investigation, said Lt. Devon Brutosky, criminal investigations section commander at the state police\u2019s Troop N in Hazleton.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can pick your friends. You can pick the job you have. But you can\u2019t pick your relatives,\u201d Brutosky said<\/a>. \u201cI was thankful to them for providing samples.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Chiverella murder case began with a man in his early 20s \u2014 Forte \u2014 and it ended with one: Eric Schubert, a 20-year-old Elizabethtown College history major. Schubert, the proprietor of ES Genealogy, did the research that helped state police investigators identify Forte as the long-sought killer.<\/p>\n

He has been interested in genealogy since he was a child and, over the past two years, has helped multiple law enforcement agencies identify alleged cold case killers.<\/p>\n

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DNA cold case: <\/span>Eric Schubert, a 20-year-old college student and genealogy expert, speaks Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022, during a news conference in Hazleton, Pa. Schubert helped Pennsylvania State Police investigators identify James Paul Forte, who died in 1980, as the person who abducted, raped and murdered Marise Ann Chiverella, 9, March 18, 1964, as she walked to school. <\/span>(AP Photo\/Michael Rubinkam)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Schubert described the Chiverella case as a \u201cmultifaceted investigation that left absolutely no stone unturned.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe investigation that went into all of this work was probably the hardest genealogy task that I\u2019ve ever faced in over 10 years, as long as I\u2019ve been doing genealogy. This was probably the hardest thing that I\u2019ve ever done in my entire life,\u201d Schubert said Thursday<\/a>. \u201cAnd it means so much to me that I was able to be on the team that could provide answers to the Chiverella family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marise was one of five children<\/a>. All four of her siblings, who are now in their 60s and 70s, were at Thursday\u2019s announcement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have so many precious memories of Marise,\u201d her sister, Carmen Marie Radtke, said. Radtke was 13 when Marise was slain.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the same time, our family will always feel the emptiness and sorrow of her absence,\u201d Radtke said<\/a>. \u201cWe will continue to ask ourselves, \u2018What would have been? What could have been?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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DNA cold case: <\/span>Carmen Marie Radtke, left, and Ronald Chiverella speak Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022, about the March 18, 1964, rape and murder of their sister, 9-year-old Marise Ann Chiverella, as she walked to school in Hazleton, Pa. Police announced Thursday that DNA has identified James Paul Forte, who died in 1980, as the man who killed the girl. <\/span>(AP Photo\/Michael Rubinkam)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A haunting crime<\/b><\/h3>\n

Marise was a shy third grader at St. Joseph\u2019s Parochial School in Hazelton on March 18, 1964, when she left her family\u2019s home for the day just before 8 a.m. According to newspaper accounts published the day after the murder<\/a>, it was the first time the girl walked to school alone.<\/p>\n

Radtke and a Chiverella brother, then 11, followed a few minutes later, the Standard-Speaker in Hazleton reported<\/a>. Though they, too, attended St. Joseph\u2019s, they never saw their sister again.<\/p>\n

She was last seen alive about 8:10 a.m. near 6th Street and Church Street, about eight blocks from her family\u2019s Alter Street home.<\/p>\n

When Marise failed to return home for lunch, her family realized she had not made it to school that day. They and the school notified the police that the girl was missing.<\/p>\n

Her 55-pound body was found that afternoon by a resident who went to dump some ash in an abandoned strip mine pit near the Hazleton Municipal Airport. She had been raped and strangled.<\/p>\n

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DNA cold case: <\/span>Marise Ann Chiverella, 9, lived with her parents and four siblings at this home next to their store on Alter Street in Hazleton, Pa., when she was raped and murdered March 18, 1964, on her way to school. Police announced Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022, that DNA has identified James Paul Forte, who died in 1980, as the man who killed the girl. <\/span>(Google)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to news accounts<\/a>, Marise had been bound and gagged, her multicolored scarf stuffed into her throat to prevent her screams. She was still clothed in a dark jacket and skirt and black leotards.<\/p>\n

Her suede shoes, school bag and pocketbook were found nearby. The canned goods meant for the church were also found near her body.<\/p>\n

In 1994<\/a>, on the 30th anniversary of the killing, a Chiverella cousin recalled seeing Marise hurry past her own home on that bitterly cold Wednesday morning so many years before.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was so windy (and) she was hustling along,\u201d Helen Slattery told the Standard-Speaker<\/a>. \u201cShe was so cold.\u201d<\/p>\n

Slattery\u2019s home was just two blocks from St. Joseph\u2019s, where Slattery\u2019s own children were also students at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know why, but for a moment I felt like going to the door and calling her in for a while to warm up,\u201d Slattery said<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m so sorry I didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

The murder stunned residents of Hazleton. Baron spoke Thursday<\/a> about the way the Chiverella case changed life for many people, including the investigators assigned to solve the crime.<\/p>\n

He said detectives are taught not to get emotionally attached to cases, but that \u201cyou can\u2019t help it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a vivid memory for everybody who lived through this, and it\u2019s a vivid memory for everybody who grew up in this area,\u201d Baron said<\/a>. \u201cWe were told by a parent, a grandparent, an aunt, an uncle, \u2018This is Marise\u2019s story.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happened to her ushered in a change in this community. Whether you like it or not, the way you lived changed after March 18 of 1964 in Hazleton.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watch Thursday\u2019s news conference below, courtesy of WNEP-TV in Moosic, Pennsylvania.<\/b><\/p>\n