Dana Nicole Bradley was 14 when she disappeared from St. John’s, Newfoundland, on December 14, 1981. Witnesses saw her hitchhiking along Topsail Road at about 5 p.m.; two reported seeing her get into a light-colored, badly rusted four-door car believed to have been a 1973–1976 Dodge Dart or Plymouth Valiant driven by a man. She never returned for her mother’s birthday and was reported missing.

Four days later a family cutting a Christmas tree found Dana’s body in the snow in woods off Maddox Cove Road south of St. John’s. An autopsy found multiple blunt-force blows to the head that fractured her skull and evidence of sexual assault. Her body had been carefully positioned and reportedly had schoolbooks placed with it. Investigators believed she was probably killed the same day she vanished.

The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary and the RCMP mounted a large joint investigation. In 1986 David Grant Somerton confessed, then withdrew his confession; no physical evidence tied him to the crime and the murder charge did not proceed. Decades later a man using the name Robert made allegations that prompted searches, and in May 2016 two buried vehicles were excavated privately but yielded no usable evidence. In May 2016 DNA testing of retained 1981 evidence produced a male profile that remains unidentified; police said it can both exclude suspects and potentially identify the killer.