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A 4-year-old boy found dead beneath a Lorton bridge in 1972 has finally been identified as Carl Matthew Bryant, ending a mystery that lasted more than half a century.
Detectives with the Fairfax County Police Department’s Major Crimes Bureau Cold Case Squad made the identification using advanced DNA testing, forensic genome sequencing and genetic genealogy. The homicide investigation remains open, with authorities now examining the suspected deaths of Carl and his infant brother.
Carl was born May 26, 1968, and lived in Philadelphia with his mother, Vera Bryant. Relatives said Vera had two sons, Carl and James, and planned to travel from Philadelphia to Virginia in 1972.
A Child Without a Name
Carl’s body was discovered June 13, 1972, in Massey Creek beneath the Old Colchester Road Bridge in Lorton. An autopsy determined that he died from blunt-force trauma, and his death was ruled a homicide.
Investigators had no immediate leads and could not identify him. A local church group named the child “Charles Lee Charlet” and arranged his burial at Coleman Cemetery in Alexandria.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children produced a computer-generated image of the boy in 2003. Although it generated several tips, none led to an identification.
Hair evidence located in the case file in 2004 was sent to the FBI. Investigators extracted mitochondrial DNA and entered it into a national database, but no matches were found. DNA testing in 2016 also eliminated two missing children, Soloman Rose and George Barksdale, as possible identities.
Detectives needed nuclear DNA to pursue more advanced testing. Efforts to exhume the child were complicated by poor cemetery records and a storm that had erased burial markers.
Investigators instead turned to preserved hair samples. Astrea Forensics recovered a usable profile from only a few millimeters of hair and prepared it for genetic genealogy.
DNA Trail Reaches Philadelphia
Innovative Forensic Investigations identified a possible relative through genetic genealogy. After extensive research and phone calls, detectives traced the child’s family to Philadelphia.
Working with Philadelphia police, investigators contacted a relative who led them to Vera Bryant. She had died in 1980.
Detectives traveled to Philadelphia, where family members confirmed that Vera’s 4-year-old son Carl had disappeared after leaving for Virginia in 1972. Investigators collected DNA from relatives and Carl’s suspected father while also reviewing birth certificates and historical records.
Vera’s body was exhumed to establish the maternal connection. George Mason University helped prepare evidence for testing, but preservation problems caused several extraction attempts to fail. Astrea Forensics ultimately recovered DNA from part of her remains.
On July 1, testing confirmed that the unidentified child was Carl Matthew Bryant.
Detectives Suspect a Second Child Was Killed
Investigators believe Vera Bryant and her boyfriend, James Hedgepeth, were involved in Carl’s killing. Both are now dead. Hedgepeth had previously been convicted of murder and had a history of violent crime.
Detectives also suspect Carl’s infant brother, James Bryant, was killed around the same time. They believe the events occurred somewhere between Philadelphia and Middlesex County, Virginia.
Authorities are asking anyone who remembers the family—or any law enforcement agency that recovered or documented unidentified infant remains during the 1970s, particularly in Virginia or the Philadelphia area—to contact the Major Crimes Bureau at 703-246-7800, option 2.
Anonymous tips may be submitted to Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS (866-411-8477).