The body of 15-year-old Henry Bedard, Jr., whose 1974 murder remains unsolved, was exhumed Wednesday at a cemetery in Swampscott, Massachusetts.

An excavator was seen at Swampscott Cemetery next to an open gravesite, along with tents from the Swampscott Police Department and the Essex County District Attorney.

Victim of 1974 murder exhumed

Police and Essex D.A. Paul Tucker said they were at the cemetery as part of a case they were working on "for quite a while." Tucker confirmed that Bedard's body was exhumed and being taken to Boston for an autopsy.

Tucker said there's no significance for why they chose this day for the exhumation but said the court order to exhume Bedard was a result of "information recently received," according to a press release.

"The advances in technology and science, particularly with DNA, has led us to make the request for the court order of the exhumation," said Tucker.

"So what they're going to be looking for, specifically, I believe is DNA, possibly from the perpetrator, perhaps a hair or something that could have been exchanged," said former FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer.

"The whole town cried for at least two weeks"

Bedard was last seen on December 16, 1974 on Paradise Road in Swampscott after Christmas shopping in Vinnin Square. Police said his body was found the next day in the woods off Suffolk Avenue, behind where the Department of Public Works building now stands. A baseball bat with "unique markings" on the handle was found near his body, according to police.

Bedard was a student at Swampscott High School, where he was on the football team. He also worked at his father's service station on High Street in Danvers.

"I remember the whole town cried for at least two weeks," said Carrie Weisenfald, who was 14 at the time and attended school with Bedard. She was a year younger and in the same class as his brother, Stephen. "We just were scared and wanted to know what happened. This town needs closure on this case. It has affected all of us."

Anyone with information on Bedard's murder is asked to contact the Unresolved Case Unit tip line at 1-855-MA-SOLVE.