Cops make breakthrough in 40-year-old mystery of man found murdered on rural Palm Beach road

Joseph W. Newman disappeared in the early 1980s after traveling from New Jersey to Florida

An undated photo of Joseph W. Newman, whose remains were found in 1984 in Palm Beach, Florida (Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office )

Cops have made a breakthrough in the cold-case murder of a man whose body was found on a rural Palm Beach road 40 years ago.

On Tuesday the skeletal remains were identified as Joseph W. Newman, according to DNA results analyzed by Othram.

Newman was last seen alive in the spring of 1983 after traveling from Toms River, New Jersey, to Florida. He lived in Bal Harbour and Kendall in Miami-Dade County, according to Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputies.

On February 3, 1984, Newman’s remains were found by a man searching for aluminum cans along the New River Canal, about 30 feet from Highway 27. The remains were bound and wearing pants, underwear and socks.

Authorities used the same technology that led to the arrest of the Golden State Killer, extracting DNA from Newman’s bones and then matched it with DNA of a distant relative. Now, authorities are hoping to find his killer.

“We’re definitely looking at a homicide,” said Detective G.F. Radford, according to The Palm Beach Post.

Joseph W. Newman was last seen in 1983 after travelling from New Jersey to live in Florida (Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office)

The investigation will begin with identifying all associates of Newman, including a man known to investigators as Jamie, who was in his mid-30s at the time, and believed to be one of the last people seen with him.

Jamie was a “muscular” man “who often bragged about being a football player,” investigators said.

Crime Stoppers is offering a $3,000 for information about Newman’s murder.

Anyone with information about the case is urged to contact Detective John Cogburn at 561-688-4063, CogburnJ@pbso.org or Crime Stoppers of Palm Beach County at 1-800-458-TIPS (8477).