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Break in 1986 cold case killing came from new tip, report says

New information has been learned about the arrest of a North Carolina man in a 30-year-old cold case.

Tracy Gilpin was murdered in 1986. For more than 30 years, the case had gone cold, but it was new information about the timeline of events that prompted police to seek out 61-year-old Michael Hand in North Carolina, ultimately arresting him.

According to the Boston Globe, that information came from Melissa Cavacco. She told police Hand hosted a gathering at his Kingston home on Oct. 1, 1986, which was the last night Galpin was seen alive.

Her body was found in Myles Standish Forest on Oct. 22.

During an interview with police, Hand said a gathering took place where he, Gilpin, Cavacco and another man were present, but Hand said it happened weeks prior to Gilpin being reported missing and said he saw Gilpin after that gathering.

He told police he saw Gilpin get into another man’s vehicle at a Cumberland Farms on the night she went missing, and identified that man as Henry Meinholz. He blamed him for Gilpin’s murder, though he did give police various stories about being in the state forest.

At one point, he admitted to dropping the rock used to crush Gilpin’s skull.

Meinholz died in prison in 2000 while serving time for another crime. He was ruled out as a suspect in Gilpin’s murder.