The last time she met 51 years ago. Her body was finally discovered and confirmed.

The remains found in a forested New Hampshire area 51 years ago have been identified as missing nurses, and now police want to find out how her remains have got there.

The body belongs to 21-year-old Nancy Gale Erickson, who once lived in Tampa, Florida, and Brattleboro, Vermont, New Hampshire Department of Justice announced on July 9.

She was last seen in 1973, and the following year her body was found in a wooded area in New Hampshire.

Police said her death and the way she died was still undetermined.

“After years of work on this case, it makes a lot of sense to name Nancy Gale Erickson,” Kelly Lapointe said in a press release: “It’s not just solving a mystery – it restores her identity and respects her life.”

Who is Nancy Erickson?

Erickson was born in New York in 1951 and grew up in Elmira, about 38 miles southwest of Ithaca, police said. She received her degree in Nursing from Corning Community College.

In her 20s, she moved to Tampa, Florida to live with her mother and siblings. She worked as a nurse at Tampa General Hospital, and then in 1973 she “suddenly left Tampa with a duffel bag without a known destination”.

According to police, her siblings believe working in nursing can be difficult, resulting in her disappearance.

Police added that on October 2, 1973, Erickson was arrested in Vermont for stealing a car. Police said she told the judge that the car ran out of gas and she would meet friends at the White River junction. According to her family, they received a call from her arrest, but they didn’t know who she might know in Vermont.

Erickson was suspended and stayed in Brattleboro, Vermont, where she worked at the Brattleboro retreat at a nonprofit mental health hospital. At the time, she was also living in a community home that provided short-term stable housing. Suddenly, on October 30, 1973, Erickson left work and home and never saw or heard of it again.

Lost: He disappeared in 2010. Long Island divers thought they might have found his body.

The woman reported missing decades after she heard last time

Police said the body, which was recently identified as Eriksen, was on April 16, 1974 in a forested area in Marlborough, New Hampshire. According to forensic analysis, she died in the fall of 1973.

Before she was identified, all investigators knew she was white, between the ages of 18 and 48, 5 feet 2 to 5 feet 6 inches tall, with tall brown hair.

When her body was discovered, she wore a light brown corduroy coat with a white wool lining, a warm-up jacket, a plaid shirt, off-white work pants, brown low-cut work shoes and mismatched socks.

Police said she had no proof of her identity and that she was not reported to the Blattborough Police Department until 2021, although her family had previously reported her disappearance in other states.

Between 2022 and 2024, investigators completed forensic tests and found that the body matched Erikson’s siblings.

In April 2025, state police asked about the body, calling it a “suspicious death.”

“It is believed that the remains may have existed since the second half of 1973,” the police shared online. The death was believed to be suspicious. ”

“She never forgot”

Police want to talk to anyone who knows Erikson or contacts her before her death, including:

• The person she worked with at Brattleboro retreat.

• A person who lived in a community home in 1973.

• Students at Corning Community College between 1971 and 1972.

• Staff at Tampa General Hospital between 1972 and 1973.

Police ask anyone with information to contact (800) 525-5555, email coldcaseunit@dos.nh.gov, please contact the New Hampshire Coldbox Unit Tips Line, or submit the Tips at www.doj.nh.gov/criminal/cold-case.

According to police, the determination of Erikson’s body was a joint effort by the New Hampshire Police Forensic Laboratory, the National Missing and Unidentified Human System (NAMUS), Bord Technology and the University of North Texas Health Science Center.

Police also thank Erickson’s siblings Michael Erickson, Sandra Eslick and Kevin Erickson.

“She has never been forgotten,” Lapointe of the New Hampshire State Police Department said in a press release. “We are very grateful to all those who have worked hard to make it possible. Now, the focus is turning to how and why she died.”

Saleen Martin is a reporter for the USA Today team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – 757. Email her at sdmartin@usatoday.com.

This article was originally found in USA Today: Nancy Erikson Case: Discovered in New Hampshire