Suspect in 1981 Cold Case Nabbed After Asking Question

There's no body, no DNA evidence, and no confession. The Thursday arrest of the husband of a woman who vanished in Bucks County, Pa., in 1981 instead came after an odd question: "Did you find the body?" William Korzon, who had a history of assaulting his wife, asked that of investigators who questioned him this year, according to an affidavit, though he told reporters Thursday that Gloria Korzon "went to Florida," per the York Dispatch. Police believe that's one of many lies the 76-year-old has told regarding his wife's whereabouts since she seemingly "ceased to exist" after leaving work on March 6, 1981. While Bucks County DA Matthew Weintraub notes officials are "very sad to say we have not [found the body]" which "makes this case difficult," he tells CBS Philadelphia "we can't just wait and hope this case will improve. Gloria's family has waited long enough."

The case against Korzon—charged with homicide, solicitation to commit homicide, forgery, and perjury—will therefore rest on instances where Korzon "assaulted and threatened to kill" his wife, per the affidavit. In 1967, the same year the couple were married, Korzon allegedly threatened to kill Gloria and spent time in a Massachusetts mental hospital. After the pair moved to Philadelphia in 1968, Korzon allegedly left Gloria with "a broken arm, a broken collarbone, damage to her nasal bone and a black eye." Gloria then "sent a letter to her father and advised him not to open it unless something happened to her," the affidavit reads. After her disappearance, Korzon is accused of asking a former tenant for help in killing a detective on the case. Police say he also forged documents in an effort to profit from Gloria's death, recognized by the courts in 1997. (More murder stories.)