A Nebraska girl's murder went unsolved for more than 55 years before an Oklahoma man was arrested and accused of being the "enraged killer" who had been sought for decades, officials said.
Marshals picked up Joseph A. Ambroz, 77, in Ponca City, Oklahoma, this week after he was indicted on one count of first-degree murder in the slaying of Mary Kay Heese, 17, the sheriff and the prosecutor in Saunders County, Nebraska, said in a statement.
Heese was reported missing on the night of March 25, 1969, before her body was found in a "roadside ditch south of Wahoo just after midnight," the sheriff and the prosecutor said.
Heese's loved ones never lost hope that her killer would be found one day.
The family maintained a Facebook page all these years asking for the public's help to bring justice to the teenager whose "life was taken by this enraged killer."
Investigators recently exhumed Heese’s body. It wasn't immediately clear what role, if any, unearthing her remains played in Ambroz's arrest.
Saunders County Attorney Jennifer Joakim could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.
The indictment has not been unsealed, said Saunders County Sheriff Chris Lichtenberg, who declined to offer any more details about what authorities believe connected him to Heese.
"Unfortunately, at this point, I can’t release details as to not jeopardize the case," he said Wednesday.
Ambroz was arrested Monday and was still at the Kay County Detention Facility on Wednesday, a jail official said.
Records did not indicate whether Ambroz has a lawyer.
