NYPD uses novel DNA technique to solve 45-year-old case of missing veteran

For the first time in NYPD history, detectives in Queens used breakthrough genetic genealogy techniques to solve the murder of an aging World War I veteran whose body parts were dumped in a grave nearly 45 years ago, officials said Thursday.

George Clarence Seitz, who served in the war as a "Doughboy" in the U.S. Army disappeared in December 1976 after he left his Queens home to get a haircut and was never seen alive again, said investigators. He was 81 at the time of the disappearance and had been working as a chauffeur after his time in the military.

"I have to say the work that was done in this case was not just relentless but amazing," said NYPD Chief Jerry O’Sullivan. "Those … detectives found out where the crime was committed, they were able to conduct an investigation on who committed that crime and then they had to determine the identify of that person who was 81 years old in the year 1976.

In March 2019, NYPD detective Erik Contreras received a telephone call at the 102nd Precinct in which the caller related specific details about a homicide that had occurred in 1976.

Those details included a specific location where the remains were located, officials said at a news conference announcing the arrest of Martin Motta, 74, for the killing of Seitz.

After human remains were discovered on the property of a home at 115th Street in Richmond, Contreras and other detectives then began a complicated and intense two-year investigation in which forensic experts and the FBI helped identify Seitz’s remains through the use of investigative genetic genealogy.

Additional investigation, including interviews with witnesses, led detectives to focus on Motta, who at the time of Seitz’s disappearance owned a barber shop named "Haircutters" with his brother in Queens.

Officials said they believe Motta was the only person involved in the homicide.

Police were guarded in releasing details Thursday of the investigation and what led them to focus on Motta, now being held without bail on a single count of second-degree murder, said Queens executive assistant district attorney Dan Saunders.

However, O’Sullivan noted that the makeshift grave that held Seitz was about a mile away from where the killing took place. The victim’s body was dismembered at the neck, shoulders and hips, according to investigators.

Police believe the motive for the killing was robbery. One law enforcement source said Seitz used to walk around with a great deal of cash.

The key to identifying Seitz was genetic genealogy in which DNA information from Seitz’s remains were compared to genetic profiles submitted by people to public websites like Ancestry.com to construct a hereditary family tree.

Police focused on relatives of the deceased and later backtracked to identify the victim, noted Saunders. The genetic technique has been used around the country to solve many cold cases and was also used to identify Gilgo Beach murder victim Valerie Mack in 2020.

Another key prosecution using the genetic genealogy method was that in the infamous Golden State Killer case in California.

"Once they knew who the person was then they were able to piece together some answers to the questions of when it happened, where it happened and why it happened … and perhaps even how it happened," explained Saunders.

Chief Emanuel Katranakis, who supervises the NYPD crime lab and other units, said that investigative genetic genealogy is being used in a number of cold cases and indicated that there may be additional breakthroughs in the near future.

Motta’s defense attorney Russell Rothberg didn’t return a number of calls for comment Thursday. Officials said that Motta made no statements at the time of his arrest.

By Anthony M. DeStefano

tony.destefano@newsday.comtonynewsday

Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.