By Tiffany Williams –
A Mississippi man has been charged with murder in connection to the 2009 disappearance of a Worcester woman, prosecutors announced Friday.
Patricia Santos was last seen in 2009 and reported missing on May 20 of that year, according to the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office. Her case remained cold for 16 years until a grand jury indicted 64-year-old Albert Carabba of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, on a murder charge on September 23.
Carabba was arrested by police from Ocean Springs and Worcester and is expected to be extradited to Massachusetts to face a judge. Authorities have not released a timeline for his transfer, and it’s unclear whether Carabba has retained an attorney.
Worcester Police Chief Paul Saucier said investigators never gave up on the case. “As this unresolved homicide finally moves forward, we are confident that the facts provided will resolve any questions surrounding Patricia’s disappearance and deliver much deserved closure to her family,” Saucier said.
Prosecutors did not reveal what new evidence linked Carabba to Santos’ death. However, the Worcester Police Department’s unsolved cases webpage notes that “Santos was in a volatile relationship in the past and investigators are concerned.”