Boy found dead in 1972 is finally identified. Police believe 2 people were involved.

The body of a 4-year-old boy has been identified more than five decades after he went missing in Northern Virginia in 1972.

The missing child was revealed as Carl Matthew Bryant, the Fairfax County Police Department said during a news conference on Monday, Aug. 4. While questions still remain about the case, including the mystery surrounding what happened to Bryant's younger brother, authorities added they believe the boy's mother and her then-boyfriend were involved in his death.

Officials said he was found dead in 1972 in Massey Creek, under the Colchester Bridge in Lorton, about 16 miles south of Arlington.

Officials used DNA testing and forensic-grade genome sequencing through Astrea Forensics, a genealogy company, to make the discovery. Law enforcement agencies have seen success in recent years solving decades-old cold cases through DNA testing.

“It wasn’t too long ago in policing when the investigation of a cold case was doing neighborhood canvases and knocking on doors and reinterviewing family members…now we knock on the door of genetic genealogy,” said Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis, noting his department's accomplishment was tempered by the circumstances surrounding the case.