Police have suspect in Pa. boy’s 1985 death

updated 9:20 p.m. ET July 3, 2008

PHILADELPHIA - Police have a suspect in the 1985 killing of a teenage boy whose body was found in a thicket months after he left home on a bicycle, a coroner said Thursday.

The death of 13-year-old David Reed had long been labeled undetermined but was reclassified a homicide Thursday after a review of his exhumed remains.

State police, acting on new evidence they have not disclosed, exhumed the body in January and had forensic anthropologists perform new tests.

The suspect is still alive, but the motive remains unclear, said Schuylkill County Coroner Joseph Lipsett. Until an arrest is made, investigators are not releasing specifics about how the boy died.

"This (ruling) was one of the most significant hurdles," said Cpl. Robert S. Betnar, the lead investigator, whom the family credits for the recent progress. "Without it being a homicide, technically there's no crime, and we couldn't make an arrest."

The boy's body was found about a half-mile from his bicycle in a remote thicket on the edge of his hometown of Schuylkill Haven, 75 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

More from msnbc.com Theater troupe makes dreams come true |   Video World Blog: What's at stake in Copenhagen? What do you remember? Take our weekly quiz ‘Three Cups of Tea’ advice for Obama Will nuclear fusion fade ... or finally flare? Giving back for the holiday season? Tell us how On Twitter: Breaking news updates | Weird and wild

MORE FROM CRIME & COURTS

Crime & courts Section Front

1 shot in Md. hotel machine-gun shooting Knox upset, tired; gets family visit in prison Ohio inmate to get one-drug execution   Remains of 43 horses removed after Ohio fire Student charged in Binghamton U. professor's death Teen pleads not guilty in killing of brother Delayed Va. Tech alert ‘inexcusable’ N.Y. prof wrongly ID’d as suspect files suit Crime & courts Section Front   Add Crime & courts headlines to your news reader: