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Woman who vanished in 1978 is found dead in submerged car, New Hampshire cops say

A body found in a submerged car in the Connecticut River was confirmed to be a Alberta Leeman, a woman who went missing in New Hampshire in 1978, police say.
A body found in a submerged car in the Connecticut River was confirmed to be a Alberta Leeman, a woman who went missing in New Hampshire in 1978, police say.

A woman who vanished in 1978 and was found dead in a submerged car in the Connecticut River has been identified, authorities in New Hampshire confirmed.

The human remains were identified as Alberta Leeman, who was 63-years-old at the time of her disappearance in July 1978, according to state police.

Her body was found in the underwater vehicle in August 2021, New Hampshire state police said in a May 20 news release. It was found in a section of the river in Lancaster.

Leeman’s death was ruled accidental “from a motor vehicle collision” and “multiple blunt force injuries” by the state Medical Examiner’s Office, the release said. The circumstances “are not considered to be suspicious.”

Leeman drove a Pontiac LeMans that was found by New Hampshire Fish and Game’s Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV)/SONAR Team during a training session in August 2021, according to an agency news release. Then, a dive team went into the river and “identified the vehicle license plate as one that matched” Leeman’s car.

“The family of Ms. Leeman appreciates the diligent efforts of law enforcement and their medical partners that have brought this investigation to conclusion,” state police said.

The Connecticut River runs through four states including New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Lancaster is roughly 100 miles north of Concord.

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This story was originally published May 23, 2022 at 12:10 PM with the headline "Woman who vanished in 1978 is found dead in submerged car, New Hampshire cops say."

Julia Marnin
McClatchy DC
Julia Marnin covers courts for McClatchy News, writing about criminal and civil affairs, including cases involving policing, corrections, civil liberties, fraud, and abuses of power. As a reporter on McClatchy’s National Real-Time Team, she’s also covered the COVID-19 pandemic and a variety of other topics since joining in 2021, following a fellowship with Newsweek. Born in Biloxi, Mississippi, she was raised in South Jersey and is now based in New York State.
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