A New Jersey man is accused of sexually assaulting a woman who was found dead on Memorial Day Weekend in Wildwood more than 30 years ago.
Jerry Rosado, 62, of Millville, New Jersey, was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting Susan Negersmith in 1990, officials announced Friday.
Negersmith, a 20-year-old woman from Carmel, New York, was visiting Wildwood, New Jersey, on Memorial Day Weekend with friends in 1990.
On May 27, 1990, Negersmith’s partially clothed body was found in a rear outside storage area near a Wildwood restaurant. An autopsy revealed Negersmith had been sexually assaulted.
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The case remained unsolved for the next 32 years as several law enforcement agencies, including the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office, Wildwood Police, NJ State Police and the FBI all investigated.
During the investigation, an STR DNA profile was identified from Negermsith’s body. That profile was compared to multiple persons of interest over the years which all came back with negative results.
In 2018, the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit started a Genetic Genealogy Analysis of the unknown DNA profile. Through the analysis, investigators determined Rosado was an STR DNA match for the unknown profile, officials said.
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“Countless law enforcement professionals and prosecutors have worked on resolving this case over the last thirty-two years and their collective dedicated effort, in conjunction with the improvements in DNA Technology and Genetic Genealogy Analysis, has led to this long overdue arrest,” Cape May County Prosecutor Jeffrey Sutherland said. “I want to particularly commend the Major Crimes Cold Case Unit of the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office for their steadfast efforts in finally providing a measure of justice to the Negersmith family.”
Rosado is charged with sexual assault. He has not been charged in Negersmith’s death and the investigation is ongoing.
If you have any information on the case, call the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office at 609-465-1135, the Cape May County Crime Stoppers at 609-889-3597 or report anonymously through the Cape May County Sheriff’s Tip Line.
