Updated July 10 at 3:21 p.m.
After more than 50 years, investigators have identified a woman whose body was discovered in Marlborough, New Hampshire, back in 1974. The woman is Nancy Gale Erickson, 21, a former nurse from New York who lived in Tampa, Florida, and then in Brattleboro, Vermont, before disappearing.
“After years of work on this case, putting a name to Nancy Gale Erickson is incredibly meaningful. It’s more than solving a mystery — it’s restoring her identity and honoring the life she lived. She was never forgotten,” New Hampshire State Police Detective Sgt. Kelly LaPointe said in a Wednesday news release. “We’re deeply grateful to everyone whose efforts made this possible. Now the focus turns to understanding how and why she died.”
According to the release, the unidentified body was first discovered in a wooded area off New Hampshire’s Route 124 on April 16, 1974. Forensic analysis revealed she had died the previous fall. Investigators didn’t find any identification, the release said, and the cause and manner of death was undetermined. Her identity remained unknown for nearly 50 years.
In 2021, Nancy Gale Erickson’s family reported her missing to the Brattleboro Police Department. Between 2022 and 2024, forensic testing determined that the DNA of Erickson’s siblings matched with the remains found in Marlborough.
Erickson was born in Bay Shore, New York, in 1951 and grew up in Elmira, New York. She later moved to Tampa, Florida, and worked as a nurse at Tampa General Hospital. She abruptly left in 1973; according to her siblings, the emotional toll of her work may have played a role in her departure, the release said.
She was later arrested in Vermont for stealing a car. The release cited an article published at the time, which said Erickson told a judge the car had run out of gas, and that she was going to visit friends in White River Junction. The family remembers receiving a call about her arrest, but didn’t know who Erickson may have known in Vermont, according to the release. She received probation and stayed in Brattleboro, where she started working at the Brattleboro Retreat, a private mental health hospital, while living at the Community House, a nonprofit organization offering short-term residential stabilization and assessment programs for children.
On Oct. 30, 1973, she left her job and residence, and remained unaccounted for until investigators identified her.
“The investigation is active and ongoing,” Christopher Knowles, assistant attorney general in New Hampshire, told VTDigger. “Since 1974, when Ms. Erickson’s body was found, all leads have been followed up by multiple law enforcement agencies, and ultimately, that’s led to our identification today.”
Investigators are asking people who knew Erickson from her college years and colleagues in Brattleboro and Tampa to contact them. Anyone with relevant information can reach out to the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit tip line at 800-525-5555 or coldcaseunit@dos.nh.gov, or submit a tip online.
