Cold Case Solved: DNA Leads to Conviction in 1986 Massachusetts Murder

For nearly four decades, the murder of Claire Gravel remained an unsolved mystery, leaving her family in the dark. That changed when advances in DNA technology finally led to a conviction.

Claire, a 20-year-old college sophomore, was found strangled with her own tank top along a highway near Salem, Massachusetts, on June 30, 1986. The case haunted investigators and her family for years.

"It's a sense of relief because the last time we were here, we had unanswered questions," Claire's younger brother, Jim Gravel, told "20/20" co-anchor Deborah Roberts. Her siblings described Claire as "bubbly" and "feisty," a young woman with dreams of becoming a lawyer and starting her own family. She was studying political science at Salem State College at the time of her death.

On the day she disappeared, Claire failed to show up for work. Her brothers and roommate reported her missing, and hours later, her family learned of her death.

Investigators initially explored potential links to a series of similar unsolved murders in New Bedford, Massachusetts, but found no connection. Decades passed, and leads dwindled.

In 2004, then-Detective Elaine Gill, who had been on the original case, pursued new forensic possibilities. She submitted Claire's tank top for touch DNA testing. Three years later, a male DNA profile was generated and entered into the national DNA database, CODIS, but no match was found.

The breakthrough came in 2007. In a separate incident in Hamilton, Massachusetts, John Carey attacked a woman named Rosemary Diskin in her home. Carey was convicted of home invasion and attempted murder for the attack and sentenced to 20 years in prison. His DNA was entered into CODIS following his conviction.

In 2022, Carey's DNA profile from the Diskin case matched the profile found on Claire Gravel's tank top. Carey, who had attended Salem State years before Claire, was charged with her murder. He pleaded not guilty and went to trial in March of the current year. After a nearly three-week trial, a jury found him guilty. A judge sentenced Carey to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Carey is currently appealing the conviction.

Claire's mother, Mary Gravel, who had never recovered from her daughter's death, passed away in 2015, before Carey was charged. Claire and her mother are now buried side-by-side.