Indictment handed down by Grand Jury in 1986 murder of Massachusetts woman

Thursday morning, a Grand Jury indicted John Carey for the murder of a 20-year-old woman in June 1986, Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett announced.

On Saturday, June 29, 1986, North Andover’s Claire Gravel, a student at Salem State College, went to Major Magleashes’ Pub on Washington Street in Salem with friends. She was last seen alive between 1:30 and 1:45 a.m. Sunday morning being dropped off at her apartment on Loring Avenue in Salem. Three workmen discovered her body in the woods on the northbound side of Route 128 in Beverly on the afternoon of June 30th. The medical examiner determined that she had been strangled to death.

“For 36 years, Claire Gravel’s family and friends have had nothing but questions about her death,” DA Blodgett said. “Today, we are able to give them some of the answers.”

Over the years, investigators had interviewed dozens of witnesses and persons-of-interest and investigated multiple leads and tips. A new lead developed in 2012 and Assistant District Attorneys, State Police Detectives assigned to the Essex DA’s Office, and Salem and Beverly Police investigated. Evidence recovered from Claire’s clothing was instrumental in solving the case.

Carey, 63, is currently incarcerated at MCI Concord for a 2008 conviction.