DNA genealogy leads to arrest of man accused of murdering New Jersey teenager in 1999

Police have arrested a man after a grand jury in New Jersey indicted him in the 22-year-old cold case murder of a teenager, officials said.

Sayreville Police and the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office announced that after a brief foot pursuit authorities took Bruce A. Cymanski, 49, of Barnegat into custody on charges of murder, aggravated sexual assault, and kidnapping.

Cymanski is accused of killing 17-year-old Sayreville resident Nancy Noga in 1999.

On Jan. 7 of that year, Noga, a high school senior, failed to return home from her job and she was reported missing. Her body was discovered behind a Sayreville shopping plaza five days later. An autopsy determined she died from blunt force trauma.

According to officials, Cymanski recently was identified as a suspect in the case in part through the use of genetic genealogy.

He was being held at the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center pending a detention hearing.

“In the decades since Nancy Noga’s death, law enforcement has relentlessly pursued justice on her behalf,” Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone said. “The advancement of modern scientific tools has allowed that endeavor to enter a new chapter.”

Sayreville Police Chief John Zebrowski said Cymanski’s arrest is thanks to “decades of hard work” by a number of detectives and officers. “We never stopped following up on leads, and today with the arrest of Bruce Cymanski, we are one step closer to bringing a degree of justice and closure to the family.”

Anyone with information relevant to the investigation is urged to call Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office Detective Mark Morris at (732) 745-3702 or Sayreville Police Sgt. Daniel Ellmyer at (732) 525-5406.