Police looking at potential suspects in local woman’s murder 27 years ago, after remains identified

Genelle Bradford was murdered nearly three decades ago in Wilkinsburg.

The 18-year-old’s remains were just identified on Tuesday, 27 years after she disappeared. Authorities determined she was strangled to death.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> Man speaks out after local police confirm remains found in basement 27 years ago were his sister’s

“We do have a couple suspects that we are interested in,” Allegheny County Police homicide Sergeant Kevin McCool told Channel 11. 

County homicide investigators aren’t giving up hope when it comes to finding the person who strangled Bradford and left her in an abandoned home back in 1999. 

“One individual was known to — I don’t want to use the word inhabit because it wasn’t his house — but spent time in that abandoned house for various reasons,” McCool said. 

Genelle was walking home from Wilkinsburg High School the day she disappeared.

Detectives found her body in the basement of an abandoned home just a few minutes from her family home. 

Channel 11 exclusively spoke to her brother on Tuesday.

He’s wondered what happened to his sister for nearly three decades until new DNA technology identified a body found in the abandoned home as Genelle. 

“I was like, finally, somebody sat down and looked at the evidence and said something is not adding right,” Richard Bradford said. 

So far, investigators haven’t been able to identify DNA from the person who killed her. 

Richard told us he’s not getting his hopes up. 

“I’m a realist. It’s been over 30 years. This happened at a time before DNA is the way it was now. ... So possible evidence is long gone,” he said. 

But detectives are hoping they get a major break in the case. 

“So much time has passed, and allegiances change,” McCool said. “Somebody may know something that was close to the perpetrator 30 years ago, and now they’re no longer friends. They no longer have a reason to protect them.”

Detectives have not released the names of the potential suspects in Genelle’s case. 

Right now, they are trying to figure out if those suspects are still alive. 

Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW

©2026 Cox Media Group