ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) — Nearly 53 years after a missing high school girl was found dead, police said they know the person who was responsible for her disappearance and subsequent death.

The Anne Arundel County Police Department said Friday that Forrest Clyde Williams III, formerly of Salem, Va., would have faced charges related to Pamela Lynn Conyers’ murder, had Williams not died at some point, himself.

Investigators said Conyers was 16 years old when she disappeared in October 1970. When her family reported her missing on Oct. 16, they said she had run an errand at the the Harundale Mall around 8:30 p.m. and didn’t return. Police found the car Conyers drove in a wooded area near Mountain Road and Route 100 on Oct. 19. They found her body a day later near the car.

Pamela Lynn Conyers (Anne Arundel County Police Department)

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for the State of Maryland determined that Conyers died as a result of “asphyxiation due to strangulation.”

The Anne Arundel County Police Department said Friday that the combination of evidence collected at the time of Conyers’ killing, advancements in technology, and work with its federal and state law enforcement partners led them to Williams, who would have been 74 if he were still alive.

Although investigators said Williams was responsible for Conyers’ murder, they asked anyone with information about the case to contact the Anne Arundel County Police Department at (410) 222-4731. People also can provide information anonymously by calling (410) 222-4700.