The New Jersey cold case intersects with North Carolina arrest records and a South Carolina disappearance.
CHARLESTON, S.C. — A New Jersey murder case revived by DNA testing has drawn new attention to Charleston, where Robert William McCaffrey Jr. was convicted of obstructing the investigation into his wife’s disappearance.
McCaffrey, 54, is now in custody in New Jersey on charges that he kidnapped and killed Lisa Marie McBride in Vernon Township in 1990. The prosecution began with a Sussex County cold case, moved through North Carolina when a task force arrested him April 10, and has renewed public focus on South Carolina, where Marjorie “Gayle” McCaffrey vanished in 2012. Officials have not merged the two cases. One is a pending New Jersey murder prosecution. The other remains an open Charleston County homicide investigation without a body.
Gayle McCaffrey was last seen March 17, 2012, at her West Ashley home. Robert McCaffrey reported her missing the next day and told investigators the couple had argued before he drove Upstate and returned to find her gone. Authorities later said he gave false information during the investigation, including a farewell letter that investigators determined was fabricated. He was charged with obstruction in 2014, convicted in 2019 and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was paroled in 2023. Gayle McCaffrey was declared dead in 2018, but her remains have never been recovered.
The New Jersey arrest came from another timeline. McBride, 27, disappeared from her Highland Lakes home in Sussex County on June 23, 1990. She had gone to a concert in New York City, stopped with friends at a Newfoundland pub and returned home before 2 a.m. Later that morning, she did not answer calls or show up for work at Lakeland Bank. Her brother went to the house, and police found what they described as a cut phone line, a damaged window screen, missing bedding and items out of place. A hunter found her remains four months later in Sandyston.
For years, investigators had evidence from McBride’s home and no arrest. Court records now described by prosecutors say testing on evidence from the headboard area of her bed began in 2020. McBride’s remains were exhumed in 2022 to obtain a stronger DNA sample for comparison. Authorities said a February 2026 match in CODIS identified DNA from the case as McCaffrey’s. That match was possible because his DNA had been collected after the South Carolina obstruction conviction. Investigators also said they confirmed McCaffrey lived in Sussex County at the time McBride disappeared.
Sussex County Prosecutor Daniel M. Perez announced the arrest April 11, saying a multistate task force had taken McCaffrey into custody at about 8 p.m. the previous night in Manteo, North Carolina. Perez said the case was solved through advances in DNA technology and “relentless investigative efforts” by the New Jersey State Police, the Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office and Vernon Township police. McCaffrey was held in Dare County, North Carolina, before extradition to New Jersey. He pleaded not guilty April 20 to first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping and second-degree burglary.
The states now overlap in court arguments. At a New Jersey detention hearing, Judge Janine Allen considered McCaffrey’s South Carolina obstruction conviction while deciding whether he should remain jailed before trial. Allen said the conviction concerned her because it showed he had obstructed a criminal justice process before. Prosecutors also pointed to a witness identified by initials who they said reported that McCaffrey had confessed in 1995 to killing McBride because she would not go out with him. Defense attorney Thomas Militano challenged that proof and said the DNA evidence does not establish when any contact happened.
McBride’s case has also produced new searches for physical objects from 1990. Court documents described in local reports say investigators sought McBride’s wallet, purse, brass “WEEZA” key chain, New Jersey driver’s license and credit cards, items they believe may have been taken after her killing. Reports on the search of McCaffrey’s North Carolina property said authorities found a laptop in a crawl space, two black hatchets in a vehicle and three guns. Authorities have not said those items prove involvement in McBride’s death, and no trial evidence has been tested before a jury.
In Charleston County, the latest arrest has stirred painful attention for Gayle McCaffrey’s relatives. She was 36 when she vanished. Her children were young, and relatives later received custody. A probate judge declared her dead in 2018 and found Robert McCaffrey responsible for her death for estate purposes, but the criminal case did not proceed after a grand jury declined indictment. The sheriff’s office continues to classify the disappearance as a homicide investigation. Detectives have not reported a recovery of remains or a final account of what happened inside or outside the West Ashley home.
The New Jersey prosecution is farther along. Judge Allen ordered McCaffrey held at the Morris County Correctional Facility pending trial after finding probable cause for the charges. The murder count could carry life without parole if he is convicted. A pre-indictment conference is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. May 18 in Sussex County Superior Court. The Charleston case remains separate, with detectives still seeking information about Gayle McCaffrey’s disappearance 14 years after she was last seen.
Author note: Last updated 2026-05-05.