Headless victim in 1976 New York cold case identified through DNA: police

The body of a headless, handless man found on the side of a deserted road in New York’s Allegany County 56 years ago has been identified through DNA advances, authorities announced this week.

However, the murderer has still not been caught.

The body of 35-year-old Clyde A. Coppage was found along a road in Andover, upstate New York, in March 1970.

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“For nearly 56 years, New York State Police investigative members continued to follow every lead, but the male’s identity remained unknown,” New York State Police said in a statement Thursday. he said.

Coppage was originally from Pennsylvania and had not been reported missing.

There was no clothing on him or any other way to identify him, Police Officer James O’Callaghan said Friday, according to the Albany Times Union.

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The road in Andover, New York, where Clyde Coppage’s body was found. (New York State Police)

O’Callaghan said evidence showed Coppage was killed and dismembered elsewhere before his body was dumped on rural Davis Hill Road in Andover.

In June 2022, his body was exhumed to obtain a DNA profile and, with the help of the FBI, he was finally identified.

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The New York State Police Department is a headquarters in upstate New York. (Google Maps)

NYSP Amity’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation is seeking the public’s help with any information about Coppage or his killer, state police said.

Police said the investigation into his death is ongoing.