Lisa Ziegert
Teacher's aide Lisa Ziegert was abducted from a Brittany's card shop in Agawam, Massachusetts. DNA genealogy identified her killer as Gary Schara in 2017, 25 years later.
On April 15, 1992, twenty-four-year-old Lisa Ziegert was working her part-time job at Brittany's card shop in Agawam, Massachusetts. When she didn't return home, her parents reported her missing. Her body was found two days later in a field, sexually assaulted and stabbed.
The case went unsolved for 25 years despite extensive investigation. DNA evidence was preserved from the crime scene, and as technology advanced, investigators periodically retested the evidence.
In 2017, advances in DNA technology led investigators to Gary E. Schara, an Agawam resident who lived near both the card shop and where Lisa's body was found. Schara was arrested and his DNA matched the crime scene evidence.
Schara, who had no prior criminal record, died by suicide in his jail cell before trial.
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