Underwater search team found human remains and car belonging to New Hampshire woman missing for 43 years

• New Hampshire authorities have solved a 43-year-old mystery after finding human remains in a car.

• Police said Alberta Leeman, 63, was missing on her way home in 1978.

• A conservation officer became interested in her case and began looking for her in 2018.

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Underwater search teams in New Hampshire discovered human remains and a submerged car belonging to a woman who went missing in 1978, according to local and state officials.

Alberta Leeman, 63, went missing 43 years ago, likely on his way home, authorities told WMUR.

New Hampshire and Vermont state authorities are investigating how his 1972 Pontiac Lemans ended up in the Connecticut River, New Hampshire state police said in a statement.

The mystery was largely solved by a conservation officer named Joe Canfield, who “learned of the disappearance of a woman and her vehicle and became interested in the case,” according to the Enforcement Division of the New Hampshire Fish and Game Act.

Canfield used regular training sessions from the agency’s Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) / SONAR team to focus on “the areas that he believed to be high probability areas based on his research on the case. Leeman, ”the agency said.

During a recent session, the research team discovered an apparent vehicle underwater in the Connecticut River. A dive team took over on August 5 and identified the car’s license plate as that of Leeman’s 1978 Pontiac.

“The dedication of CO Canfield and the F&G ROV / SONAR team solved a 43-year-old mystery and ultimately gave the Leeman family a sense of closure,” the agency said.

Canfield and his research team were first assigned to the Leeman case in 2018, WMUR reported. Although the human remains found in Leeman’s car have not yet been identified, authorities told the station that the Pontiac’s license plate was “OB610” – the exact plate registered at Leeman at the time. .

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The agency added that before Leeman’s discovery, the ROV / SONAR team’s ‘most famous find’ occurred in 2018 when the crew found the skeletal remains of a man in his submerged vehicle. in the Androscoggin River for 20 years.

Police said Leeman’s disappearance was not considered suspicious and added the public is not in danger.

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