19-year-old’s murder remained a mystery for nearly 40 years — until now, officials say
The mystery of a 19-year-old woman’s disappearance in 1984 deepened when her skeletal remains were found in a shallow grave 11 years later in New Jersey.
Donna Macho, of East Windsor, went missing from her family’s home on Feb. 26, 1984, and was never seen again, according to officials.
After her body was discovered on April 2, 1995, an autopsy showed she had what appeared to be a gunshot wound to her head, according to the New Jersey Attorney General.
Despite investigative efforts, the case ultimately went cold — until now, the attorney general’s office announced in an April 26 news release.
With the help of modern DNA technology, investigators identified Nathaniel Harvey, who used to live in East Windsor, as the suspect who killed Macho in 1984, according to officials. He’s also accused of sexually assaulting her.
Harvey died in a state prison while serving a life sentence for a different homicide in the same county, officials said. According to prosecutors, he had a criminal history of breaking into homes and raping young women.
“Nearly 40 years have passed since the life of a 19-year-old was mercilessly stolen by a predator who discarded her remains in a shallow grave, leaving them unrecovered for more than 10 years,” Col. Patrick J. Callahan, the superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, said in a statement.
“Time does not erase the quest for justice, and although this murderer was imprisoned for another killing and died in custody in 2020, it does not make this conclusion any less meaningful.”
How the cold case was solved
In February 2022, Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo J. Onofri directed authorities to revisit Macho’s cold case, according to officials.
After Macho went missing, investigators found semen in her bedroom, but DNA technology at the time wasn’t able to produce any leads or identify a suspect, officials said.
When the case was reopened, all the evidence that was previously gathered, including that semen sample, was resubmitted to a state police laboratory, according to officials.
Advanced DNA technology matched Harvey’s DNA to the DNA evidence found in Macho’s bedroom, identifying him as the suspect, officials said.
Macho’s body had been found in the woods near a farm where Harvey worked in 1984, according to the release. Authorities found her car abandoned near a sewer plant close to Harvey’s home, officials said.
In reexamining the case, Macho’s cause of death was determined to be “evidence of homicidal violence” and she died as the result of a head injury, according to the Middlesex Regional Medical Examiner’s Office.
However, it “was not conclusively a gunshot wound,” the release said.
Harvey was arrested in 1985 in the separate homicide case and remained in prison until he died in 2020, according to the release.
“After a comprehensive, cooperative investigation, cold case detectives were able to eliminate other potential suspects and are confident that Nathaniel Harvey is the perpetrator in the sexual assault and murder of Ms. Macho and the case is now closed,” Onofri said in a statement.
East Windsor is about 50 miles northeast of Philadelphia.
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