Maryland authorities charge man in 1993 child murder case

Authorities have announced charges in the 1993 disappearance and death of 10-year-old George ‘Junior’ Burdynski. Joseph Lynch, 61, has been charged with second-degree murder, second-degree rape, and various sex offenses related to the case.

Burdynski disappeared on May 24, 1993, while riding his bicycle in Brentwood, Maryland. For over three decades, the case remained unsolved, despite an initial investigation that uncovered a local child sex ring involving Lynch and two others. While Lynch was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 1994 for unrelated offenses, investigators were unable to link him to Burdynski at that time.

A breakthrough occurred during a recent investigation into Lynch’s other alleged crimes. A witness, who was 13 years old at the time of the 1993 incident, informed detectives that Lynch had ordered him to sexually assault Burdynski, during which the child was killed. The witness is not being charged due to their age at the time of the crime. Lynch has been in custody since April on separate charges involving the sexual abuse of minors.