DNA advanced technology helps solve two cold case murders in Camden County
Camden police found the body of 24-year-old Marebeth Welsh on Jackson Street 33 years ago. Her family never knew who killed her until just days ago - all thanks to advancements with DNA technology.
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The murders of two South Jersey women from the early 1990s have finally been solved.
It’s all part of the efforts of the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office Cold Case division.
Camden police found the body of 24-year-old Marebeth Welsh on Jackson Street 33 years ago. Her family never knew who killed her until just days ago - all thanks to advancements with DNA technology.
Five months after Welsh’s murder, 16-year-old Jennifer Persia’s body was found in a home stabbed to death in Magnolia. Decades passed, but a dedicated team refused to let those murders go unsolved.
“These two young women never had the chance to tell their own story. Their lives were taken far too soon by the hands of a suspect who went unnamed for 30 years,” said Camden County prosecutor Grace MacAulay.
DNA tests performed in 2021 and then in 2025 identified the suspect as Francis Schooley. Further DNA tests from the suspect’s relatives earlier this year solidified the connection. Schooley co-owned a racecar sponsored by a business owned by Persia’s stepfather and a relative of Marebeth Welsh said he’d seen her and the suspect together in the past. The case was solved. Schooley would never have the chance to stand trial. He killed himself in the year 2000.
Marebeth’s daughter, Melody Beth Welsh, was just a baby when her mom was killed in 1993.
“There’s some closure. I guess it is the best word for it. The details of how her body was found it’s just kind of feels like she was alone, and I don’t think anyone should feel that way,” said Welsh.
“All of a sudden, we have answers to what happened to her. We’re relieved to hear that for sure,” said Marebeth’s husband Daniel.
Jennifer Persia’s murder shook the Magnolia community to the core.
“The whole community was just – it's all we talked about the whole time,” said Magnolia’s long-time mayor BettyAnn Cowling-Carson.
It’s been 32 years and five days since Jennifer Persia was taken from the Magnolia community. Shortly after her death, the town dedicated a gazebo, benches, and memorial plaque in her honor.
You can read more details about this case HERE.
