Crime & Safety
'Human Remains' Found In Wooded Area Of Rock Creek Rd Identified: NHPD
The state Medical Examiner identified the body as a New Haven woman, the same woman who police said in February had been missing since 2024.
NEW HAVEN, CT —The "human remains" found last week in a wooded area of Rock Creek Road have been identified by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner as the body of Denise Leary, born in 1965, of New Haven, police said Tuesday.
The cause and manner of death are still pending.
The New Haven Police Department's Special Victims Unit said in early February that Leary, then 59, was first reported missing in September 2024. Leary lived on Rock Creek Road, police said. There are social media pages dedicated to locating Leary.
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Last Thursday night, police responded to the 100 block of Rock Creek Road after residents reported finding the remains while clearing brush in a wooded area behind the house.
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Police said then the remains were in an "advanced" state of decay and investigators were unable to determine the person's identity, gender or race.
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