A photo of 20-year old Eve Wilkowitz from Project: Cold Case. Blood evidence believed to be the killers was found on the victims clothing but remained unidentified. Scientists were able to use the unknown DNA to find potential matches in public databases and create a reverse family tree. This method eventually led to a man named Kenneth Gould, who unfortunately passed away in 2007. Las Vegas police Lt. Ray Spencer announced Monday that advanced DNA testing helped investigators solve the cold case homicide of 16-year-old Kim Bryant. Beyer said he was "blown away" when he heard how his mother's case had. It was abusive, and I ran away at 15 years old. All of that stuff was preserved the way it should be, because they knew probably somewhere down the line whatever they collected could be that little piece of evidence (to solve the case), Trate said. Dean was reportedly involved with a Jesus People organization before his death. I went to the streets. Missing Melissa Highsmith's mother poses next to a composite sketch of her daughter's suspected kidnapper in a Fort Worth Star Telegram newspaper article. Acting on the suspicions of her family in Mexico, authorities examined trace DNA from the ropes used to bind her, comparing it with DNA given by the family of Edward Geddes (pictured), Lina's husband, who had died by suicide in 2001. Using genetic genealogy and familial DNA, police in Colorado have solved the decades-old cases of the deaths of four females, saying the killer was a man who died by suicide in jail in 1981.. CNN . This led investigators to believe that whoever wrote the letter had committed the homicide.. Two years later, in 1989, a California woman, Renee Cuevas, was also found murdered. DNA testing at home in Japan is starting to gain traction as more people age and seek answers about their risks for diseases. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! All Rights Reserved. The family reunited with Melissa, who now goes by Melanie, in Texas on the night of Thanksgiving and learned that she had grown up just minutes from where she was taken. Most recently, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to another 25 years to life in prison for the rape and violent murder of Diane Cusick. And what went through his mind when he learned she had a family that loved her? When the 17-year-old was found beaten to death in a New Jersey cemetery in July 1982, the small community of Blairstown responded with an outpouring of sympathy, raising funds for her burial and keeping the case in the public eye, according to the New Jersey Herald. Cates had developed a habit of borrowing and pawning power tools from Stagner, a city maintenance worker, in order to support this habit; even Cates' own family members had long suspected his involvement in the killing, but police were never able to gather enough evidence to support a probable cause warrant for his arrest. Using genealogy techniques, detectives discovered that the murderer had ancestral origins in the small Italian town of Gasperina, and that only a couple thousand people with such ties lived in the area at the time of the killing. Like so many other cold cases, the eventual identification of the killer hinged on one thing: The collection of DNA evidence at the scene of the murder, and its careful preservation. DNA had been found on Smiths clothing at the time of her murder, but it was only recently that new advances in technology allowed the sample to be tested and matched. In 2009, Dawn and Chad Drexel lived every parent's worst nightmare. A man confessed to the crime shortly after. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. But, after 52 years, Curran's family finally has closure. Hepting said in an interview with Burlington police that DeRoos once stabbed a woman in front of Hepting, and later said he thought he stabbed Hepting. Tamika Reyes was only nine years old when her mother, 26-year-old Anna Kane, was found strangled and left in the woods outside of Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1988. I knew," Jeff Highsmith said. Like how you go from what little information you have to building a case like that was truly impressive, he said. Unfortunately, the 62-year-old mystery has only been partially solved the cops are still on the lookout for Gallegos' abductor, although it seems a safe bet that if they're still alive, the extremely long, doggedly determined arm of the law will catch up to them eventually. An image of "Little Miss Nobody," a girl discovered in a remote Arizona desert more than 60 years ago. "The DNA evidence ended up being so incredibly key," Moore said. On September 19, 2022, a federal judge vacated the conviction of Adnan Syed, the subject of the 2014 podcast Serial and the 2016 HBO docuseries The Case Against Adnan Syed, after 23 years. Richard Cottingham, nicknamed the "Torso Killer" or "Times Square killer," allegedly admitted in December to killing five women on Long Island, New York, in the late 60s, early 70s. DNA testing of Curran's housecoat at the lab in Florida further confirmed that DeRoos had committed the crime. She was only 9 years old. Her siblings on Thursday described her as a quiet, sweet girl that had aspirations of becoming a nun. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. Raymond Moody was sentenced to life in prison Oct. 19 for the 2009 rape and murder of 17-year-old Brittanee Drexel in Myrtle Beach, S.C. (Georgetown County Sheriff's Office/Associated Press). But it wasn't until 2022 that, you guessed it, advances in DNA technology finally allowed authorities to use an imperfect DNA profile to identify the victim as Dawn Olanick, whom it is believed Kinlaw murdered when she resisted his attempt to coerce her into prostitution. He was arrested in July 2022. That is, until 2019, when Detective Sgt. Fox News Digitals Audrey Conklin, Danielle Wallace, Pilar Arias and Louis Casiano contributed to this report. An initial connection to Jones was established in 2002 through DNA evidence, according to the document. Cold Cases We Were Surprised And Relieved To See Finally Solved Rima Pundir February 23, 2022 2.9k votes 606 voters 31.4k views List Rules Vote up all the cold cases that were closed in unexpected ways. In March 2022, a Chattahoochee County Grand Jury made the decision to indict 64-year-old Marcellus McCluster for the murder of then-20-year-old Rene Dawn Blackmore of Arizona. One of the few people with keys to the apartment was Knutson's then 18-year-old roommate, Nichole Rice, who quickly fell under suspicion. A warrant was issued to obtain Branchs DNA upon his autopsy; the DNA obtained from Branchs remains was confirmed to be a match to the DNA on Baggens body.[6]. Syed was sentenced to life in prison in 2000 but has maintained his innocence all along. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children described how Sharon was with cousins playing behind her grandmothers home in Alamogordo, New Mexico, July 21, 1960, when she was kidnapped. The woman took her fromher home in Fort Worth, Texas, in August 1971. Eventually, direct relatives of Robertson gave their DNA samples and confirmed his identification and matched the hair strand that was found in Dahns hands. Over 65 years after a young child was found severely beaten to death, wrapped in a blanket and left in a wooded area of Philadelphia, the little one, nicknamed the "Boy in the Box," was identified earlier this month. New DNA evidence shows someone else did it. officials say, The Case of Patricia and Duane (Solved after 65 years) The Oldest Case Solved by Genetic Genealogy, Police arrest New York man in Vermont cold case killings, Thankful She Wasnt Forgotten, Family Of Murder Victim Janet Love Gets Closure 35 Years Later, 30 Year Old Cold Case Finally Solved | Ep. After more than 25 years, she was finally identified as Joyce Meyer, a woman who had drifted apart from her family after moving to Virginia in the mid-'80s. Meanwhile, Reyes still misses her mother. DeRoos was found dead of a drug overdose in a hotel room in 1986. Dennis Perry, center, standing beside wife Brenda Perry gets emotional while thanking the team from the Georgia Innocence Project after they worked to get his release after 20 years behind bars, Thursday, July 23, 2020, in Nicholls, Ga. Updated A year later, Robertson moved to Indiana and lived there until he died at age 39, in a house fire on November 25, 1999, investigators said. Her killer, Eric Drummond, was a customer at her restaurant, and it's likely due to the lack of an obvious connection with Smith that it took police five years to even identify him as a suspect. 2. Missing Melissa Highsmith's mother poses next to a composite sketch of her daughter's suspected kidnapper in a Fort Worth Star Telegram newspaper article. Blood pooled around his misshapen head, with his neck and head sustaining multiple injuries. Jamie founded Listverse due to an insatiable desire to share fascinating, obscure, and bizarre facts. Upon further testing, Loves blood was found to be mixed in with other samples of Reeds blood taken from the scene of the murder. It did. On March 18, 1964, Chiverella left her house to walk to school. Cottingham was known to approach his victims in mall parking lots and accuse them of stealing while imitating a security guard. At a cemetery in Annandale, Virginia (pictured), the body of a middle-aged woman was found. This is why, in order to be a successful homicide detective, one must be possessed of an absolutely superhuman, ridiculously dogged level of determination. NILES, Mich. - A Michigan cold case that dates back to 1987 was solved earlier this year, and Western Michigan University students . (Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP). In Alabama: A college student disappeared in 1976. Published: Apr. Now they're using DNA to help cops crack cold cases. 3:28 PM EST, Thu February 17, 2022. We share these cases to highlight their resolution and bring closure to the victims and the community . Before the judge overturned the conviction, prosecutors in Baltimore had asked for a new trial the previous week. Richard Cottingham and victim Diane Cusick. officials say In May 1987, 23-year-old Shannon Lloyd of Orange County, California, was murdered in her apartment. appreciated. Her father, Jeffrie Highsmith, submitted his DNA to the website, and he was matched to Melissa's three children as their grandfather. The answers that my family received is closure and closure is everything even after so much time had passed.. Also known as investigative genetic genealogy, this relatively new practice involves finding criminals via companies that collect consumer DNA samples for genealogy purposes. The most incriminating evidence: a cigarette butt found next to Curran's body that contained DNA evidence. Unfortunately, there was no match to a suspect at the time. Then Reyes got a call last week from a detective about a stunning development in the case. She met with a group of Jesus People to retrieve the car and ask about her son, but says they told her he'd joined their group and was cutting off ties. In 1975, long before DNA evidence would become a factor in criminal justice, 19-year-old Lindy Sue Biechler was brutally stabbed to death inside her home. He has been a guest speaker on numerous national radio and television stations and is a five time published author. Crimes have become much easier to solve if DNA is present. The results came back to match a man named Marcus Love. After more than three decades of questions and grief, Tamika Reyes finally knows who killed her mother. Wise died in a car crash in 1999, but that fact did nothing to diminish the power of the statement given by the FBI's Atlanta office in the wake of the resolution of the case. When the officers arrived, they found the pair lying in the middle of the roadway next to the mothers car, both shot in the head, the document said. The Hazelton, Pennsylvania, girl was found later the same afternoon, raped and strangled. Leads fail to pan out, witnesses change their tunes or disappear altogether, and collected evidence fails to provide the iron-clad proof required for an arrest and conviction; for mere mortals, it can all become exceedingly frustrating. Diane Lynn Dahn died on May 2, 1988. Missing Melissa Highsmith reunited with family (Highsmith family Facebook page). or redistributed. A number of true crime updates came to light in 2022, with many cold cases solved through forensic genetic genealogy. A male's DNA was detected on the cigarette butt in testing, but the DNA did not match the DNA of anyone in the national database of felons. This is fourth oldest cold case to be solved in in the country using genetic genealogy and the oldest in the state of Pennsylvania, according to state police Cpl. The Ontelaunee Trail in Perry Township, where Kane's body was found, as seen in October 1988. Moody confessed and led investigators to Brittanee's remains, but his belated cooperation did nothing to keep the entire book from getting thrown at him in court. Applying Modern Investigation Methods to Solve Cold Cases. She described Dahn as an amazing person who played the violin and guitar. Mark Baron. The most stubborn cold case in the history of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, was finally cracked in 2022 thanks to an ingenious piece of investigative work. She also plans to remarry her current husband so her father can walk her down the aisle. The gun used in the killings has not been recovered. In addition, forensic genetic genealogy has given back the names of Jane and John Does who had remained unidentified for decades. Meanwhile, detectives sent the genetic evidence from the cigarette butt to a genealogy company to see if a bigger database of DNA could help them find the killer. The coroner determined her manner of death to be strangulation. 25, 2022 at 9:15 PM PDT. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. It may take years or even decades, but we continually seek justice for victims and their families.". In May 2020, investigators started using investigative genetic genealogy, which combines DNA evidence and traditional genealogy, to find biological connection between people. Baldwin County cold case solved after 22 years. In recent years, companies like 23andMe and Ancestry have encouraged people to explore their genealogy by spitting into a tube and sending it off for analysis. Forte you would need to search over 4 million planet earths.. Mark Beyer, who was 2-years-old when his mother was murdered. However, not all of these breakthroughs were the result of forensic genetic genealogy. At the same time our family will always feel the emptiness and the sorrow of her absence, said Carmen Marie Radtke, Marises sister, during the news conference. Thanks to DNA and genealogy tracking, authorities announced Thursday, they have solved her case. Cold case team says it's ID'd Zodiac Killer. Traditionally, investigators will take DNA from a crime scene and compare it to a suspects DNA or they enter the crime scene DNA into a national database, also known as CODIS, to see if theres a match with a known criminal offender. The cops never took their eye off of Drummond despite the fact that he left the state shortly after committing the crime, and when improved DNA technology allowed them to develop a sturdy profile of Smith's killer, they zeroed in on him in earnest. Fortes DNA was a match to genetic material found on the victims jacket.[7]. Cold Case detectives couldnt figure out the connection between Robertson and Dahn. The DNA profile matched Eric Drummond. Over 30 years after her murder, researchers and investigators identified El Dorado Jane Doe in May 2022. A blood sample found in Louises car back in October 1989 was tested for DNA. At the time of their deaths, Dean and Tina had a baby daughter, Holly, who was less than a year old. The case lay dormant for years until, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the killing in 2021, investigators decided to take a fresh look. Jones arraignment is slated for March 1, according to the Superior Court clerks office. Sharons parents died before they were able to learn their daughters fate. And I went running down the street like a wild woman until I found a place I could just collapse and cry.. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Dahn had been bludgeoned and stabbed, according to the San Diego County Sheriffs Department. NYC 'TORSO KILLER PLEADS GUILTY TO 1968 MURDER OF LONG ISLAND WOMAN DIANE CUSICK, ADMITS TO KILLING 4 OTHERS. A Danby, Vermont couple, George and Catherine Peacock, were murdered in September 1989. Schubert began genealogical work on the family tree of our match and very shortly we were provided names of relatives who were scattered throughout the country, a police statement said. I couldnt believe it, she said, referring to the day police told her about the killings. Investigators analyzed Kanes clothing and found traces of an unknown mans DNA. 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