Police reveal how DNA led to an arrest in the 1990 murder of a New Jersey woman
VERNON TOWNSHIP, New Jersey (WABC) -- Police are releasing new details on how they arrested a man in North Carolina in connection with the murder of a woman from New Jersey 35 years ago.
Authorities say that new DNA evidence links Robert McCaffrey, 54, to the death of Lisa Marie McBride in 1990.
Prosecutors say the advancements in DNA evidence led them to McCaffrey, who was once the suspect in his wife's 2012 disappearance.
McCaffrey was arrested Friday evening by a multi-state task force in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
He is still being held there awaiting extradition back to New Jersey to face charges of murder, kidnapping and burglary.
McBride, 27, disappeared in June of 1990 before her body was found in October of that year in a wooded area by a hunter.
She was last seen hanging out with friends at a pub on Old Route 23 in Newfoundland. The 27-year-old worked for a bank and when she didn't show up for work the next day, friends and family got worried.
Her brother went to her home in Highland Lakes, and she was gone.
Despite extensive searches, police never identified a suspect.
Investigators say significant advancements in DNA led to an arrest in the case. McCaffrey is also suspected of the disappearance of his wife, who vanished more than a decade ago.
In 2014, following an arrest in connection with the disappearance of his wife, Marjorie "Gayle" McCaffrey, who remains missing, in South Carolina, on March 18, 2012, McCaffrey's DNA profile was entered into CODIS.
In 2022, as part of the ongoing investigation, McBride's remains were exhumed to obtain a definitive DNA sample for comparison. Police say this was essential because of advancements in DNA analysis, particularly modern genotyping.
In February 2026, a CODIS match identified the DNA as belonging to McCaffrey. Police said they confirmed that McCaffrey was living in Sussex County at the time of McBride's disappearance.
"It was terrible for the family, the family didn't have closure on it," Highland Lakes resident Ken Marsh said. "And I'm very happy that now, family, if not justice, will have some kind of closure on the whole thing. And, you know, if it's a DNA match and the evidence is enough to convict the guy, I hope that they do because a terrible thing happened."
Despite being a longtime suspect, McCaffrey wasn't indicted by a grand jury in his wife's disappearance. Now her sister hopes McCaffrey's arrest in the McBride case will lead to more charges.
McBride's parents have since died and her brother declined to speak to Eyewitness News.
Anyone with information related to this case is urged to contact the New Jersey State Police Cold Case Unit tip line at 1-833-4NJ-COLD or by email at coldcase@njsp.gov, or to contact Detective I Dominic Rubino at (609) 477-2348. Anonymous tips are welcomed and encouraged.
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