Mich. man finds mother was a 1982 homicide victim

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. (AP) — A Michigan man seeking his long-lost mother has discovered she was killed in 1982 when her body was found miles off Florida’s Gulf coast.

Jeff Early of Grand Blanc, Mich., had his wife search the Internet for information about his mother, who disappeared when he was 9.

Two years ago, Julie Early checked a website listing unidentified bodies. The information she submitted about Amy Rose Hurst matched a woman found in September 1982 in the Gulf of Mexico. The body was found 27 miles offshore, had head trauma and was wrapped in an Afghan blanket. Jeff Early remembered a similar blanket from his childhood.

The Earlys contacted Florida officials and the results of a complex DNA test showed this month that the body was Hurst’s.

Officials have reopened the homicide investigation.