A South Carolina man suspected of slaying a beloved Hudson Valley hospital worker killed himself just days after police confronted him about the 25-year cold case.
Alleged killer Robert Young was linked to the stabbing death of 32-year-old Nancy Smith thanks to a single strand of hair inside her New Windsor home, where she was found dead in December 2001, according to police.
Investigators tracked down 1,000 leads, interviewed numerous people and conducted forensic reviews over more than two decades, but only cracked the case due to “incredible” advancements in DNA technology, New Windsor Chief Daniel Valeri said Friday.
Smith, who was remembered as a doting aunt with a warm smile, was discovered by her parents on Dec. 5, 2001 after she didn’t report to work at Horton Hospital in Middletown.
“While I remember my sister with her beautiful smile, my parents’ last image of their child was covered in blankets, dead on her living room floor,” Smith’s sister Barbara Stolfe said during a press conference Thursday, according to CBS 2.
The probe stalled until 2023 when improved DNA technology encouraged detectives to submit previously collected evidence for further testing, according to New Windsor police.
The analysis led local police and FBI agents to Myrtle Beach, where they lawfully scooped up a DNA sample of someone possibly linked to the case, authorities said.
Young’s DNA was obtained across state lines and the evidence — a strand of hair collected at the crime scene — was a match, Valeri said.
“It’s incredible,” he said in an interview. “I’m sure that the investigators at the time never thought that it would have come to that single strand of hair, but as the DNA technology advanced over the years that’s exactly what happened.”
Young was interviewed in April 2026 by local police, New York State Police and the FBI, but insisted he wasn’t involved, police said.
Investigators returned to New York and started working with prosecutors to map out next steps, but was told by South Caroline authorities shortly after the interview that Young died by suicide, law enforcement said.
It remains unclear what the motive behind the fatal stabbing was, but police officials said they were confident the evidence shows Young was behind the murder.
It’s believed the suspect and victim met at a music venue in Poughkeepsie, according to the Times-Union.
“We never stopped pursuing evidence in this case, following leads and utilizing advancements in forensic technology in an effort to advance this investigation and provide long-awaited answers for Nancy and her family,” Chief Valeri said in a statement.
Smith was a graduate of Newburgh Free Academy and earned a degree from SUNY Oneonta and MPA from Marist College, according to a memorial page.
She worked in Horton Hospital’s managed care office before her death.
The only surviving member of Smith’s immediate family is her sister, Stolfe, after their parents died in 2024.
“People say there’s closure. In a piece of it, there’s closure,” Stolfe said, according to ABC 7. “There’s relief and there’s a little bit of peace,.”
Smith’s 2-year-old nephew always asked where his aunt was following her violent death.
“We’d go to my mom’s house. [He’d ask,] ‘Why isn’t Naynay here? She doesn’t love us anymore?’” Stolfe said, according to CBS 2.
“What do you tell a 2-year-old? I told him that a monster took Naynay away.”