HOPEWELL, N.J., March 27 (UPI) -- A head found on a New Jersey golf course in 1989 has been identified as the remains of a New York prostitute reported missing in 2001, police say.
A golfer stumbled on the head in Hopewell near Trenton. The head was matched with legs discovered a few days later in Morris County, more than 50 miles to the north.
Investigators said DNA testing confirmed the dead woman, whose skull has been in the Hopewell police evidence room for almost a quarter-century, was Heidi Balch, 25, of New York, The Times of Trenton reported Wednesday.
While Balch's identity was unknown, police have suspected for years she was one of the victims of Joel Rifkin, 54, who is serving a 203-year sentence in New York State for killing nine women. Rifkin said after his arrest in 1993 that he killed and dismembered a prostitute he knew as "Susie."
Related
"He basically confessed to it. He had information only the killer would know," Bruce Carnall, a retired Hopewell police officer who was the lead detective on the case, said.
New Jersey State Police Detective Steve Urbanski identified Balch by going through prostitution arrest records in 1989 in New York. He found a woman named "Susan Spencer" who used at least 15 aliases.
Urbanski also discovered a missing persons report filed in 2001. On March 5, Balch's aunt identified her from a photograph and told police her niece had also used the name Susan Spencer.
Hopewell Police Chief George Meyer said Balch, who was HIV positive, "died a horrible death and led a troubled life."
"It's definitely gratifying after all these years," Meyer said of the identification. "I think what we always thought about was, there is a family that's missing a daughter."
Rifkin was arrested in 1993 after police found a woman's body in his pickup truck on Long Island. He said he killed 17 prostitutes.
