The gruesome find was uncovered
behind a 'false wall' in the basement of the home the woman had shared with her
late husband, police said.
Joann Nichols' remains were found
inside a large plastic bin, inside a plastic bag and wrapped in a sheet, said
Dr. Kari Reiber, the Dutchess County Medical Examiner.
"The body was skeletonized and
the hands were tied with rope. ... A large area of the right side of the skull
was also missing," Reiber said.
Joann Nichols was reported missing in 1985 and her body was found behind a
false wall in her late husband's house.
Sealing the body in the plastic
bin behind a false wall might have been enough to mask the smell as the body
decomposed, she said.
Members of the medical examiner's
office removed the body after it was found Friday and were able to identify
Nichols through dental records. An autopsy showed the cause of death was blunt
force trauma to the head, according to Reiber.
Nichols, a 55-year-old former
first-grade teacher at Gayhead Elementary School in Hopewell Junction New York,
was reported missing on December 21, 1985, by her husband, James Nichols.
Police said he called in the
report after his wife didn't show up for a hair appointment at a beauty parlor
earlier that day. The next day the couple's vehicle was discovered in the
parking lot of a shopping center in the town.
Police Chief Thomas Mauro said an
intensive investigation followed, but the woman was never located. The case had
remained open since 1985 and was reviewed annually by police, he said.
James Nichols was found dead in
the home on December 27 after concerned neighbors called police because they had
not seen him in several days. He was 82 and died of natural causes, police
said.
Officers said they found the
house filled with personal items, debris and garbage.
No one in Nichols' family came
forward to claim his body or take control of his estate, so Dutchess County
Commissioner of Finance Pamela Barrack was appointed as temporary administrator,
according to Barrack's attorney, Kelly Traver.
"We were only able to locate two
family members of Mr. Nichols, but they were not able to claim his body," Traver
said.
Nichols was buried by the
Dutchess County Department of Community and Family Services in an unknown
location, Traver said.
The Town of Poughkeepsie Police
Department said it has not closed the case and will continue to examine the new
forensic evidence.
"It's now safe to say James
Nichols is a suspect in this case," said police Capt. Paul LeComte.
The Town of Poughkeepsie
surrounds the City of Poughkeepsie in southeastern New York State, about 70
miles north of New York City.
