SALEM, MASS. (WHDH) - The family of a Salem State student killed in 1986 is getting answers more than three decades after her death, now that a suspect identified by law officials has been arraigned.
Claire Gravel, 20, was a college sophomore when she disappeared in late June after a night out with members of her softball team. She was reportedly dropped off outside of her apartment on Loring Avenue in Salem around 1:30 a.m. — the last time she was seen alive by friends.
Three workmen later discovered Gravel’s body in a wooded area off of Route 128 in Beverly, with a medical examiner confirming she had been strangled.
In court on Friday, a prosecutor told a judge that DNA evidence linked former Gloucester resident John Carey Jr., 63, to evidence found on Gravel’s shirt.
“He was required to provide a DNA sample, there was a hit linking the profile of John Carey to the profile on the tank top,” said Assistant District Attorney Kim Faitella. “Advances in technology then improved the data and that led us to the first-degree murder charge.”
Back in August, the Essex County District Attorney’s Office announced Carey’s indictment, after a new lead in 2012 pointed investigators in his direction. Carey entered a plea of “not guilty” via video link as Gravel’s father and three brothers sat in court. He is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence after he was convicted of trying to strangle another woman to death in 2008.
“Today is the first day on the road to justice,” said Robert Gravel Jr., Claire’s brother. “It’s a day we didn’t think was coming, but it’s finally here.”
When Carey’s indictment was originally announced, Gravel’s family said they were relieved. For the family members, her death has always been with them.
“Always on my mind,” Gravel Jr. said. “Always on my mind. When I leave here, on my way home, I’m going to the cemetery to go talk to her and tell her what happened today.”
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