The search for a missing grandmother may well have reached its end after 43 years. The car of Alberta Leeman was found submerged in the Connecticut River, said the New Hampshire State Police on Sunday. Investigators soon announced they found human remains. Now they must positively identify the person.
“Human remains were located and investigation remains ongoing will update with further when available,” cops said.
This area in question is south of the bridge between Lunenburg, Vermont and Lancaster, New Hampshire, authorities said.
“The vehicle has apparently been in the Connecticut River for decades and was recently found by NH Fish & Game utilizing their specialized technology,” police wrote. “Preliminary investigation has revealed that the vehicle may belong to Alberta Leeman, of Gorham, NH. Ms. Leeman went missing in 1978. Her disappearance is not considered suspicious. The NH Fish & Game dive team is actively searching the area around the vehicle. The circumstances surrounding how the vehicle ended up in the Connecticut River are under investigation by the New Hampshire State Police in collaboration with Vermont State Police. Based on the investigation to date, there appears to be no danger to the public in connection with this incident.”
The vehicle is a 1972 Pontiac LeMans with a license plate reading OB610, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department’s Lt. Robert Mancini told WMUR9. It was registered to Leeman, who was 63 at the time. Alberta was last seen in Gilman, Vermont on July 25, 1978, he said. She was heading back to the area of Gorham, New Hampshire.
Leeman’s disappearance is not considered suspicious by investigators, though details raised some eyebrows in her family. For example, she had left her purse at home, and even had a cup of coffee on the table.
“Your mind goes that way anyway,” granddaughter Roxanne McLain, who was 16 when Alberta went missing, told the Union Leader New Hampshire. “They got suspicious about where she could have gone. She could have been taken. Everything was left at home, except for herself and her car, so it looked suspicious.”
[Image of Leeman via New Hampshire State Police; screenshot of authorities searching via WMUR]