25-year-old missing person case solved after skull found 165 miles downstream
Five years after the accident, remains were discovered—but they were not identified until this year.
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A 25‑year‑old cold case has been solved thanks to a joint investigation by Connecticut and Vermont State Police.
In 2001, Brian Cranfield and Terry Brinegar were fishing at Sumner Falls in Hartland, Vermont, when their boat overturned. Both men were believed to have drowned. Brinegar’s body was recovered weeks later at a dam in New Hampshire, but Cranfield was never found.
Five years after the accident, remains were discovered—but they were not identified until this year. A skull recovered on the banks of the Connecticut River in Haddam, Connecticut, had traveled roughly 165 miles south from the accident site. Last year, investigators collected DNA from the skull and compared it with DNA from Cranfield’s brother.
On May 2, the results confirmed a match, officially identifying the remains as Cranfield and closing the decades‑old case. Investigators say the confirmation brings long‑awaited closure to the family.
