Advanced DNA Technology Solves 30-Year-Old Suffolk County Cold Case

Cold Case Solved with Advanced DNA

• 💡 Suffolk County prosecutors announced the resolution of a nearly 30-year-old cold case involving the 1997 rape and murder of Anne Lustig.
• 🎯 The breakthrough was achieved using advanced DNA technology and forensic advancements introduced in 2024.

The Victims and Crimes

• 📌 Anne Lustig, a grandmother from Northport, was abducted, raped, and murdered after taking a cab to a medical appointment.
• ⚠️ Her body was discovered by hunters in Calverton Woods.
• ⚡ The investigation also linked the attack to the earlier rape of an 82-year-old victim who survived the ordeal.

Identification of the Perpetrator

• 🔍 A DNA profile from Ms. Lustig's sweatshirt, combined with new forensic technology, led to a match.
• 🔑 The perpetrator was identified as Steven Bry, a West Islip man who had previously served time for assault.
• 🧬 Bry's DNA was in the database, and he had a history of other crimes, including a child rape in Florida.
• 💀 Bry died in 2014, meaning he is no longer alive to face justice.

Hope and Closure

• 👏 Anne Lustig's family expressed that the hope for an answer was worth holding onto and emphasized the importance of never giving up.
• ⚖️ The Suffolk County Cold Case Task Force is now reviewing nearly 300 additional cases dating back to 1965.