NEWTON, N.J. (Sussex County) — A North Carolina man charged in the 1990 murder of a Sussex County woman n Vernon Township is expected to be extradited to New Jersey this weekend and arraigned Monday, authorities said.
Robert William McCaffrey Jr., 54, was arrested April 10 in Manteo, North Carolina, following a motor vehicle stop in nearby Nags Head. He is accused in the murder of Lisa Marie McBride of Highland Lakes, whose case remained unsolved for more than three decades.
McCaffrey is scheduled to appear before a Superior Court judge on April 20 at 9:30 a.m., where he is expected to be formally charged with first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping and second-degree burglary. Prosecutors plan to seek his pretrial detention, with a detention hearing anticipated the week of April 27.
Authorities said McBride was last seen June 22, 1990. Her skeletal remains were discovered months later, on Oct. 20, 1990, by a hunter in a wooded area off Old Mine Road in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area in Sandyston Township. Due to the condition of the remains, a cause of death could not initially be determined. She was later identified through dental records.
The case remained unsolved for decades before being reassigned to the New Jersey State Police Cold Case Unit after its creation in 2020. Investigators reopened the case using advances in DNA technology.
Evidence submitted for testing in 2020 initially produced a male DNA profile suitable only for direct comparison. Detectives spent years comparing that profile to more than 50 individuals.
In 2022, investigators exhumed McBride’s remains to obtain a clearer DNA sample. Using modern genotyping methods, forensic experts were able to isolate an unknown male DNA profile that met requirements for entry into the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System, known as CODIS.
In February 2026, authorities said, the DNA matched McCaffrey, who had been living in Sussex County at the time of McBride’s disappearance. His DNA had been entered into CODIS following a 2014 arrest in South Carolina related to the disappearance of his wife, who remains missing.
Following his arrest, authorities executed a court-authorized search of McCaffrey’s residence in North Carolina and recovered five firearms.
Officials credited advances in forensic science and years of investigative work by the New Jersey State Police, the Vernon Township Police Department and the Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office for solving the case.
Authorities said additional details, including the complaint and affidavit of probable cause, will be released after McCaffrey’s arraignment.
