A skull was discovered in a pond in Berks County that police say is connected to a 20-year-old missing person’s case. According to the District Attorney’s Office, the skull was found by a 13-year-old in 2022. Advanced DNA analysis identified the remains as a man who left Pottstown in 2004 after attempting to kill his wife at their home. Based on the condition of the skull and lack of remains, the cause of death cannot be determined.
Following an ongoing investigation, law enforcement officials said, on Wednesday, that a human skull that a boy found in a Berks County pond in 2022 likely belonged to a Pottstown man who went missing after being charged with his wife's attempted murder.
According to police, the skull that was found on a pond located near Pine Lane in Amity Township on April 30 of 2022 was determined to have belonged to Roger Hart, of Pottstown, who went missing after he was charged with attempting to kill his wife in April of 2004.
Using advanced DNA analysis and anthropological investigation, law enforcement officials said, they believe they have found the remains of the man who had not been seen in nearly 20 years.
However, officials said, two additional searches of the pond where Hart's skull was discovered have failed to locate the rest of his remains.
Get Philly local news, weather forecasts, sports and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Philadelphia newsletters.
Hart went missing, police said, after he fled the scene at his Pottstown home and his unoccupied vehicle was discovered not far from Pine Lane in Amity Township in 2004. His keys and wallet were found on the front seat of his vehicle at that time, officials said.
Also, a witness told police at that time that they had seen a man matching hart's description "exit this vehicle and enter an adjoining wooded area," officials said.
Hart had remained missing since, that is until April 30 of 2022, when a boy found a skull in a pond near his Amity Township home, and officials said, results of an "examination revealed that this skull was that of a male and that skull was believed to have been exposed to the elements for a period, greater than 10 years."
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
Officials now say that skull belonged to Hart, but they have not been able to determine a cause of death as the rest of Hart's remains have not yet been recovered.
An investigation into this case, officials said, remains ongoing.
Sign up for our Breaking newsletter to get the most urgent news stories in your inbox.
