SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Composite sketches of the suspect in the Lisa Ziegert murder case have been revealed. The sketch was put together by Parabon NanoLabs, a DNA technology company that uses DNA evidence to predict the physical appearance of suspects.
The images were released Wednesday afternoon in a news conference from the Hampden County District Attorney’s Office.
The DNA that Parabon worked with was recovered from the crime scene and from Ziegert’s remains. Prior to these composites, no physical description of a suspect had been made available.
It has been more than two decades since the 24-year-old teacher was murdered.
Ziegert was working at her second job, at a card store in Agawam on the evening that she disappeared, April 15, 1992. The following day, she was reported missing. No one had stolen money from the store, the victim’s car was still in the parking lot, and her purse appeared to have been undisturbed.
Four days after her disappearance, Ziegert’s body was found in a wooded area off Suffield Street (Route 75), about four miles away.
No arrests have ever been made in her murder.
The suspect described in the composites is believed to be of European ancestry, having fair skin, brown or hazel eyes, and brown or black hair. The suspect’s age or weight is not known.
The first sketch is of a 25 year-old man, while the second sketch is an age progression of the suspect, aged 50.
The composites are not intended to be perfect likenesses of the suspect, but are designed to approximate the suspect’s appearance.
Dee Ziegert, Lisa Ziegert’s mother, told 22News that she is hopeful the new composite images will help.
“This is not a photograph, it’s characteristics and it’s coloring and it’s going back 24 and a half years. So I’m hoping that something is going to pop,” Ziegert said.
If you have any information on the case or the suspect, you are asked to call the District Attorney’s Office Lisa Ziegert case tip line at (413) 333-9148. You can also call the Agawam Police Department at (413) 786-4768, or anonymously text a tip by texting the word SOLVE and your message to CRIMES (274637).
