Skull Found On Banks Of CT River Identified Decades Later: State Police

HADDAM, CT — A missing person case from a quarter century ago has been solved by Connecticut and Vermont State Police working together to bring closure to the family.

On April 9, 2001, Brian Cranfield, 37, and Terry Brinegar, 44, were fishing together on a boat at Sumner Falls in Hartland, Vermont, when the vessel overturned, state police said. Both men were presumed drowned.

Brinegar’s body was found April 24, 2001, at the Bellows Falls Dam, but Cranfield’s remains could not be located, state police said.

More than five years later, on October 9, 2006, a human skull was found on the banks of the Connecticut River in Haddam, Connecticut.

The CT Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner (OCME) and detectives from CT State Police Central District Major Crime (CDMC) initially investigated the case.

The remains were not tested for DNA in 2006 and were stored at the OCME. On August 7, 2025, OCME Investigator Michelle Clark notified CDMC that the skull had been processed for DNA and was analyzed utilizing Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy (FIGG), state police said.

The results indicated that the remains were potentially those of Brian Cranfield, reported missing in April 2001 in Vermont, state police said.

State Police Det. Michael Vance was able to identify and locate a potential next of kin for Cranfield, who was residing in Dover, Delaware, state police said.

On December 18, 2025, Vance made contact with Cranfield’s brother. With the assistance of Dover Police Detectives, DNA samples were taken from the brother and examined for comparison by Othram, a Texas company that uses DNA testing and forensic genetic genealogy to assist police investigations by identifying victims, locating missing persons, and uncovering perpetrators of crime, state police said.

Months later, on May 2, 2026, CDMC was notified that through DNA analysis, the remains were confirmed as belonging to Brian Cranfield.

"The persistence of law enforcement, the medical examiner and the cooperation of two State Police agencies, along with DNA advances, collaborated to bring this missing person/cold case to a conclusion, bringing closure to the family of Brian Cranfield," state police said in a statement.