Teen found dead behind strip mall in 1999, NJ officials say. Now man is found guilty

A high school senior was found dead in 1999 after having gone missing five days earlier, New Jersey officials say.

Over 20 years later, Bruce A. Cymanski has now been found guilty of the killing and sexual assault of Nancy Noga, according to an Oct. 17 news release by the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.

Noga, 17, of Sayreville, was reported missing after she didn’t come home from work, officials said.

Five days later, her body was found in a “wooded area behind a strip mall,” prosecutors said.

An autopsy showed Noga had died from blunt force trauma, officials said.

In 2021, Cymanski was indicted in the cold case, according to a Facebook post by the Sayreville Police Department.

“In the decades since Nancy Noga’s death, law enforcement has relentlessly pursued justice on her behalf. The advancement of modern scientific tools has allowed that endeavor to enter a new chapter,” Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone said in the post.

After a three-week trial, Cymanski, 52, of Barnegat, was found guilty of murder, aggravated sexual assault, kidnapping and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, prosecutors said.

He is scheduled to reappear in court for his sentencing on Jan. 6, officials said.

Sayreville is about a 40-mile drive northeast of Trenton.

This story was originally published October 18, 2024 at 4:02 PM with the headline "Teen found dead behind strip mall in 1999, NJ officials say. Now man is found guilty."