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DNA evidence leads to killer in 52 year old cold case- Paige Star and Jori Kreiter

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DNA evidence leads to killer in 52 year old cold case- Paige Star and Jori Kreiter

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Nancy Bennallack, a 28 year old court reporter, was stabbed to death in October, 1970 in Sacramento, California. This case was cold for 52 years until they used DNA genealogy to identify her killer. Richard John Davis stabbed Nancy over 30 times and almost decapitated her. Davis lived in the same apartment complex as Nancy and he eventually died of alcoholism before the case went to court, in 2005. They linked the killing to Davis because he left knife wounds and a trail of blood while leaving her apartment as she tried to fight back. In 2004, a DNA profile was developed from a drop of blood from the crime scene using CODIS and for the next 18 years, investigators ran DNA profiles through the state every week but never found the match. In November 2019, they launched the forensics genetic genealogy investigation. July 21st, 2019, was when they found Davis to be the suspect.

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‘Nancy was never forgotten’: DNA evidence leads to killer in 52-year-old cold case

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The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office used the same DNA genealogy techniques used to identify and capture the Golden State Killer

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Cold Case Murder of Krystal Beslanowitch (1995) - Dylan Waintraub

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Cold Case Murder of Krystal Beslanowitch (1995) - Dylan Waintraub

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A 17-year-old girl named Krystal Beslanowitch was a prostitute who was found dead along the Provo River in Utah, during the year 1995. It was determined that she was killed by a devastating blow to the head from a rock (murder), and in 2013, there was major progress on the case. They were able to use new forensic technologies and techniques to extract touch DNA from the granite rock used to kill the teenager almost 20 years before. DNA was matched to a man named Joseph Michael Simpson using CODIS, who was a resort bus driver in the area at the time of the crime and was arrested in Florida in September 2013, finally solving the 18-year-old case.

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Solving cold cases provides closure for families who have waited years for justice. Recent developments in DNA evidence analysis and true crime artistry are hastening these long-overdue resolutions. Unfortunately, closing a case also means bringing up painful memories associated with these tragedies. However, knowing the full truth of what happened can bring peace of mind to loved ones of murder victims whose deaths have been shrouded in mystery and heartbreak.

With the increasing use of DNA analysis, cold cases are being solved faster than ever. In the past, cold murder cases could remain unsolved for decades due to a lack of evidence. However, modern advances in DNA technology mean that police can now solve the most long-term murder cases and overturn wrongful convictions.

For example, in Germany in 2023, a man was arrested as a suspect in a 1988 cold murder case after police used DNA analysis to match the suspect's profile with evidence from the crime scene. Moreover, in 2017, DNA testing exonerated 71-year-old Craig Coley of a double murder he was wrongfully convicted of in 1978.

True crime media and stories have become increasingly popular in recent years, as they provide a medium to explore the intricacies of unsolved cold murder cases and other mysteries. While it is easy to dismiss true crime solely as entertainment, its presence in society has undeniably contributed to solving historical cold cases. Michelle McNamara, an American true crime author and journalist, wrote a bestselling book about the Golden State Killer, which was published posthumously after her death in 2016. Her book turned into an HBO docu-series titled "I'll Be Gone in the Dark," and two months after its release, police arrested and later convicted serial killer and rapist Joseph James DeAngelo. The true-crime genre does more than sell books: it brings attention to previously forgotten cases and helps generate public interest in unsolved crimes.

Thanks to advances in forensic genealogy and other cutting-edge technologies, forgotten crimes can now be reexamined with much greater accuracy, unlocking new leads that would otherwise remain hidden with the support of specialized DNA databases. At the same time, the popularity of true crime books, TV series, and podcasts have raised public interest in unsolved mysteries, encouraging citizens to submit any additional evidence or tips that could help bring closure and justice to victims' families. These two forces have ushered in a new era of cold case solving.

Check out this list of 10 cold murder cases that have been solved thanks to modern DNA analysis and true crime journalists. Each of these cases was considered unsolvable until advances in forensic science and mainstream media made it possible to bring long-awaited closure and justice for the victims' families.

1. 1. Conviction of the Golden State Killer, 1974-1986 : Solved through DNA evidence.
Joseph James DeAngelo was arrested and charged with 13 counts of murder in 2018, linked to multiple unsolved cold cases that dated as far back as 1974. To find him, investigators used public genealogy databases matching the efforts with data obtained from the victims' relatives leading them closer and closer until they found DeAngelo himself by using his discarded items, such as razors and napkins, to obtain his DNA which connected him to 13 murders, 51 sexual assaults, and 120 burglaries.

The HBO limited series "I'll Be Gone in the Dark," released shortly before DeAngelo's arrest in 2018, featured the case of the Golden State Killer, as told through interviews with victims, family members, and investigators, providing an in-depth look at how this unsolved case was eventually solved. In 2020, The Guardian reported DeAngelo was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

2. 2. Murder of Susan Berman, 2000 : Solved through witness testimony.
Robert Durst is a New York real estate heir who has been accused of, and convicted of, several criminal activities. He was initially arrested in 2001 for the murder of his neighbor in Galveston, Texas, but he was eventually acquitted after claiming self-defense. The investigation into this case reignited in 2015 when Durst was a key suspect in the disappearance of his first wife, Kathie McCormack Durst. The documentary series, " The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst," detailed the alleged criminal activities.

On the same night, the final episode aired, Durst was arrested for the murder of Susan Berman, his long-time friend, who knew the truth about the disappearance of Durst's first wife. In September 2020, Durst was sentenced to life in prison for the first-degree murder of Susan Berman in December 2000. Shortly after, he was charged with the murder of his first wife, but it never went to trial. According to The Guardian, Durst died in a California hospital in January 2022 while serving his life sentence.

3. 3. Murders and Sexual Assault of Lloyd Duane Bogle and Patricia Kalitzke, 1956 : Solved through DNA evidence.
In 1956, three boys discovered the body of 18-year-old Lloyd Duane Bogle near his car with a gunshot wound to the head, the victim's hands tied behind his back. The following day, a county road worker uncovered 16-year-old Patricia Kalitzke's body north of Great Falls; she was shot and sexually assaulted.

These killings remained unsolved until June 2021, when investigators announced they had used DNA evidence and forensic genealogy to crack the case, making it one of the oldest cold cases solved using these methods. Unfortunately, the killer, Kenneth Gould, died in 2007.

Still, according to NPR, his surviving family members cooperated with investigators and gave their DNA samples to confirm he was the murderer, bringing closure to a 60-year-old case.

4. 4. Death of Baby Theresa, 2009 : Solved through DNA evidence.
In 2022, new developments in the 2009 "Baby Theresa" case were revealed. A moniker given to a nameless newborn found by the side of a road, the body of Baby Theresa was found on June 5th, 2009, deceased and tied up in a garbage bag near Theresa, Wisconsin. DNA evidence identified Baby Theresa's biological parents, Karin Luttinen, and her boyfriend (who was not named in the case). Authorities found the parents through DNA technology, according to WMTV.

Forensic investigation showed that "Baby Theresa" died during or soon after birth and was not murdered, but whose body was abandoned. In September 2022, Karin Luttinen was sentenced to three years of probation after her guilty plea for concealing the death of a child.

5. 5. Murder of Nancy Marie Bennallack, 1970 : Solved through DNA evidence.
For nearly 52 years, the cold case of Nancy Marie Bennallack's murder had been a mystery. In October 1970, the 28-year-old court reporter was brutally stabbed in her Sacramento apartment. Her family, friends, and even her then fiancé, whom she was supposed to marry about a month later, had no answers for decades about who killed her.

In August 2022, Yahoo! News reported investigators from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office and Sacramento County District Attorney's Office identified Richard John Davis as Nancy's killer thanks to the advanced technology of DNA genealogy techniques, which have been used extensively to capture the Golden State Killer. Davis died from complications of alcoholism in 1997 at age 54. The cold case was finally put to rest after more than four decades.

6. 6. Murder of Anna Jean Kane, 1988 : Solved through DNA evidence.
The cold case of Anna Jean Kane's murder goes back over 35 years, making it one of the longest unsolved cases in Pennsylvania. The brutal crime occurred on October 23, 1988, alongside a road in Perry Township. After decades of dead-ends, breakthrough DNA genetic genealogy technology has finally identified Scott Grim as the killer. Pennsylvania State Police and Berks County District Attorney John Adams broke the news in August 2022.

It is an incredible development that offers long-awaited closure for Anna Kane's family, especially with added insight from a chilling letter sent to a local newspaper after her death that contained intimate details of the crime.

In February 1990, the cold case was reignited when an anonymous letter, signed by a "concerned citizen", addressed the newspaper containing "numerous intimate details" about the murder. State Police Trooper Daniel Womer said this led them to believe that the letter's author may have been responsible for the homicide. The saliva-sealed envelope from which the letter was sent tested positive for DNA matching that on Kane's clothing, indicating Scott Grim as a possible suspect.

Unfortunately, Grim passed away in 2018 due to natural causes and could not be brought to trial to testify. He had been just 26 years of age at the time of Kane's murder, according to NBC.

7. 7. Murder and Sexual Assault of Fawn Marie Cox, 1989 : Solved through DNA evidence.
The cold case of Fawn Cox has been a source of deep grief and immense frustration for Kansas City Missouri Police Department detectives over the last three decades. On June 26th, 1989, someone broke into her bedroom window and sexually assaulted her before killing her in cold blood-all while the rest of her family slept on, oblivious to the violence happening in the other room. Thankfully, crime scene investigators collected bodily fluids from a potential suspect then, although current forensic technology did not allow them to pinpoint the culprit.

Using genealogical DNA results, they could narrow in on Donald Cox, Jr., Fawn's cousin, who had passed away in 2006. Though his death was not due to foul play, it was suspicious enough for the medical examiner to retain a blood sample from the investigation. Upon extraction and comparison with an existing DNA profile from the original crime scene 14 years prior, there proved to be a match. When investigators shared this discovery with Fawn's family in November 2020, both of her still-living parents expressed sorrow yet relief that their suspicions may have been true all along.

8. 8. Murder and Sexual Assault of Jodi Loomis, 1972 : Solved through DNA evidence.
The cold case of Jody Loomis had haunted families and police officers for 47 years, until a stunning development in 2019 when the Snohomish County Sheriff's Department identified a suspect, according to the Seattle Times. On August 23, 1972, when Jody Loomis' body was discovered lying by a dirt road with a gunshot wound above her right ear, DNA evidence was preserved on her body and boots.

Years later, the evidence was submitted for genetic genealogy identification. It linked it to 78-year-old Terrence Miller, who lived only 17 minutes from the crime scene where Jody had been murdered. This compelled officers to arrest and charge Miller with first-degree murder. Using DNA evidence, authorities could match Miller's genetic profile to the semen collected from Jody's boots. Unfortunately, Miller took his own life just hours before he was to be convicted by a jury.

9. 9. Murder and Sexual Assault of Shannon Rose Lloyd and Renee Cuevas, 1987 :Solved through DNA evidence.
In May 1987, police were stymied by the death of Shannon Lloyd in Orange County, California, who was found sexually assaulted and strangled to death in her own apartment. Though a suspect wasn't found at the time, two whole years later, in 1989, another California woman, Renee Cuevas, met with a similar destiny-and both cases were separately investigated until 2003 when CODIS (The Combined DNA Index System) revealed that their crime scenes shared the same genealogical match. However, no suspect could be pinpointed from the data collected.

In 2021, investigators turned to a revolutionary approach: using genetic genealogy to find suspects. This technique finds partial matches using an unknown individual's sample of DNA and attempts to build a family tree based on these similarities. According to NBC Los Angeles, the DNA investigation led detectives back to Rueben Smith, who had lived in the area during both crimes. It was revealed that he had a criminal record for sexual assault and attempted murder in Las Vegas dating back to 1998; a DNA sample taken then was later used to connect him to the cold case murders. In 1999, Mr. Smith died by suicide.

10. 10. Murder of George and Catherine Peacock, 1989 : Solved through DNA evidence.
After a cold case of 33 years, the mystery surrounding the 1989 murders of George and Catherine Peacock of Danby, Vermont, had finally been cracked. The couple, aged 76 and 73 at the time, had been stabbed to death in their home with no signs of forced entry.

Michael Louise, the Peacocks' son-in-law, was identified as a suspect a few weeks later, but he remained free due to an absence of hard evidence against him. Nearly two decades later, in May 2020, according to NECN, a cold case unit from Vermont finally got its break when new forensic tests on a blood sample found in Louise's car linked back to George Peacock. In 2022, police arrested Louise for double homicide, and justice for the Peacocks was served posthumously.

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10 Cold Cases Solved - Forensics Colleges

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DNA analysis, true crime authors, and crowdsourced investigations have revolutionized how cold murder cases are solved.

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1988 Georgia cold-case solved, killer identified through DNA test from family - Deena, Ninjin

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1988 Georgia cold-case solved, killer identified through DNA test from family - Deena, Ninjin

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Stacey Chahorski was 19 years old when she was killed. Her body was found along the highway in Dade County, not far from the Alabama-Georgia border. But for the last 33 years, investigators didn’t know much more, including the identities of her and her killer. Decades later her family finally got some answers, in the form of new genealogy DNA testing. The technology is used to positively identify a person’s DNA. 34 years later the killer was identified as Hank Wise. Investigators say they matched a living family member’s DNA to his. Wise was a trucker whose route crossed through the Southeast, and whose DNA was also found at the scene; Wise had a criminal history in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina.

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ATLANTA, Ga. (CBS46) - Newly-uncovered genetic evidence helped authorities figure out who is responsible for a 1988 crime. Authorities believe it's the first time ever that DNA technology identified both the victim and killer in a single cold case.

Stacey Chahorski was just 19 years old when she was killed. Her body was found along the highway in Dade County, not far from the Alabama-Georgia border. But for the last 33 years, investigators didn't know much more, including the identities of her and her killer.

Decades later her family finally got some answers, in the form of new genealogy DNA testing. The technology is used to positively identify a person's DNA.

"We are standing here today, almost 34 years later, to say we have finally identified Stacey Chahorski's killer," said Keri Farley, FBI Atlanta special agent in charge.

That killer is now identified as Hank Wise. Investigators say they matched a living family member's DNA to his.

Wise was a trucker whose route crossed through the Southeast, and whose DNA was also found at the scene; Wise had a criminal history in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina.

The GBI and FBI are glad they persisted

"I spoke to Stacy's mother last week to let her know that we found who the killer was. And she, of course, was upset. But she was very thankful to everybody that I mentioned - and was just overwhelmed," said Joe Montgomery, GBI special agent in charge

Wise is no longer alive. Authorities say he died in a fiery vehicle accident in 1999. But now, the family has some peace, their daughter's killer, is no longer roaming free.

"Let this serve as a warning to every murderer, rapist, and violent offender out there. The FBI and our partners will not give up. It may take years or even decades, but we continually seek justice for victims and their families," said Farley.

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1988 Georgia cold-case solved, killer identified through DNA test from family

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ATLANTA, Ga. (CBS46) - Newly-uncovered genetic evidence helped authorities figure out who is responsible for a 1988 crime. Authorities believe it's the first time ever that DNA technology identified both the victim and killer in a single cold case. Stacey Chahorski was just 19 years old when she was killed.

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Western Washington cold case homicide solved with DNA evidence, forensic genealogy - Carly B 

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Western Washington cold case homicide solved with DNA evidence, forensic genealogy - Carly B 

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Patricia Lorraine Barnes' body was found in a ditch in 1995. Her homicide continued to be unsolved since. Barnes was seen in Seattle in August 22nd, 1995 and her body was found with a bullet to the head three days later covered in a sleeping bag. The person of interest when regarding this case was Douglas Keith Krohne who had passed in 2016 after being electrocuted. The two did have connections but it is unclear on how they met. In April 2018, investigators took a deeper view at the physical evidence left in the homicide, interviewed detectives, and went over pictures and did some DNA testing. DNA was found at three locations at the scene and was marked as an unidentified man. Investigators talked to police and send Krohne's DNA to the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab. On February 7th, that DNA was reported to match to the unknown DNA taken from the homicide.

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Western Washington cold case homicide solved with DNA evidence, forensic genealogy

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KITSAP COUNTY, Wash. - Patricia Lorraine Barnes' body was found in an Olalla ditch in 1995, and her homicide remained unsolved for decades. A Kitsap County detective was able to call the 61-year-old woman's family Monday to say investigators had solved it.

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Colorado Cold Case Homicide: Caleb Cheyney

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Colorado Cold Case Homicide: Caleb Cheyney

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Between 1978-1981 3 women and a teenage girl were murdered in Colorado. Police recently used DNA Evidence to link the crimes to a man named Joe Ervin. Joe Took his own life in jail for the murder of a police officer. After more than 40 years Using DNA and Forensic Genealogy, police have solved the 4 decade Colorado Cold case of 4 women. Authorities confirmed this when they examined remains of Ervins body and found the DNA matched to the crime scene. Neither CODIS or GEDMATCH was used to determine Joe Ervin's DNA.

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Colorado police solve four homicide cold cases with DNA from exhumed killer

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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.

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The murder of Krystal Beslanowitch - Olivia and Artemiy

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The murder of Krystal Beslanowitch - Olivia and Artemiy

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Krystal Beslanowitch was murdered 45 miles away from Salt Lake City. This happened on December 14th, 1995 in Utah. They found her socks and her blood on rocks, and that was the only DNA of hers that they found. On the rocks, they found her DNA and the DNA of a male. They used a tool called an M-vac, which is known as the worlds greatest vacuum. They used it to collect his DNA from the rocks that they found at the crime scene and they ran his DNA through CODIS and got a hit, Joseph Michael Simpson. He was found guilty of the murder of Krystal Beslanowitch.

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On September 29, 2016, all these years after the murder, a jury found Simpson guilty of the murder of Krystal Beslanowitch. Until the DNA connection was made using the M-Vac technology, Simpson was never linked or suspected in the murder. It's quite likely that without the M-vac in this case, Simpson would still be a free man.

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The Murder of Sara Lynn Wineski, 2005 - Alex and Aidan

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The Murder of Sara Lynn Wineski, 2005 - Alex and Aidan

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A transient Sara Lynn was strangled and raped in Florida in 2005. She was later found under a deck in a backyard. No one knew who had done it and she had no ties to anyone. Eventually using DNA police were able to convict Raymond Samuels with first degree murder. Police say DNA was imperative to help solving the case and helped to show he was in the area as he was homeless.

https://dnasu.com/crimes-solved-dna-murder-sara-lynn-wineski-2005/

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Crimes Solved by DNA: The Murder of Sara Lynn Wineski, 2005 - DNASU

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On May 22, 2005, Sara Lynn Wineski was found dead under an abandoned wooden deck in St. Petersburg, Florida. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled. When she was found by police, it was revealed that she had been deceased for less than 24 hours before her body had been found.

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The Murder of Kim Bryant- Demi and Annie

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The Murder of Kim Bryant- Demi and Annie

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What was the crime?
Bryant was reported missing after she did not return home from school. Soon after she was discovered to be kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and killed.
When and where did it happen?-
On January 26, 1979
In Las Vegas
Who was the victim?-
Kim Bryant, 16-year-old girl
Who did it?- Johnny Peterson, 19-year-old man
How was the criminal caught?- DNA evidence and genetic genealogy. DNA was left at the crime scene and was used to identify a suspect's family members, who voluntarily submitted their DNA to a genealogy database.
Was CODIS or GEDMATCH used?
CODIS was used but no valid suspects were obtained.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/dna-helps-identify-suspect-16-year-girls-1979/story?id=81465838

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The Murder of Anna Palmer  - Megan Walther 

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The Murder of Anna Palmer  - Megan Walther 

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https://www.grunge.com/852179/how-the-cold-case-of-anna-palmers-murder-was-solved-over-a-decade-later/
On September 10, 1998, in Utah, Anna, a 10-year-old girl, was found dead on her front porch around dinner time when her mom came home from work. She was stabbed several times and sexually assaulted. This occurred on Anna's way home from playing with her friends when a man was found following Anna. This case was reexamined after 11 years and using DNA, the case was solved. The investigators swabbed samples of Anna's fingernails and they were able to come up with a profile of a man named Matthew John Beck, who was 19 at the time he murdered Anna Palmer. The investigators used CODIS to access the STR profile of Matthew John Beck.

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Thomas Egan Photography/Shutterstock

Investigators discovered that Anna Palmer was stabbed several times in the throat and had been sexually assaulted. They interviewed Loxane Konesavanh, the friend Anna was with that afternoon. When it was time for Palmer to go home, the girls headed to the corner of a street where they typically went their separate ways to go home. Konesavanh said that she noticed a man following them, and she told her friend to let the man pass, per Deseret News. The girls stopped, and Palmer told her friend to run home.

A 14-year-old girl named Amie Johnson witnessed the two girls walking home that day, and she told detectives that she saw a man following Palmer. Despite all the information, there was little evidence and authorities had only a few details to work with. As reported by Medium, an $11,000 (about $19,400 in today's money) reward was offered in hopes that the public could provide information that would lead to the person responsible for the little girl's death. Even then, no arrests were made, and the case went cold.

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How The Cold Case Of Anna Palmer's Murder Was Solved Over A Decade Later - Grunge

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Thomas Egan Photography/Shutterstock Investigators discovered that Anna Palmer was stabbed several times in the throat and had been sexually assaulted. They interviewed Loxane Konesavanh, the friend Anna was with that afternoon. When it was time for Palmer to go home, the girls headed to the corner of a street where they typically went their separate ways to go home.

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Albert DeSalvo, known as the Boston Strangler, confessed to killing 11 women after killing a 19 year old named Mary Sullivan in 1964. He was never convicted due to a lack of evidence and resources to find evidence at the time. Around 50 years later, they used STR on DeSalvo's Y-chromosome in order to link DeSalvo to the crime. They used CODIS to access the STR profiles.

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The Murder of Patricia Beard (1981) -Sonali and Lauren

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The Murder of Patricia Beard (1981) -Sonali and Lauren

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Patricia Beard was 32 when she was murdered and raped in her studio apartment in Denver, Colorado on March 27, 1981. DNA evidence from the crime scene was collected and entered into CODIS in 2011 and its match was found in 2013. The match was Hector Bencomo-Hinojos. He was caught when his DNA matched that found at the crime scene.

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The Murder of Jody Loomis- Ethan Klinghofer and Dylan Fields

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The Murder of Jody Loomis- Ethan Klinghofer and Dylan Fields

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On August 23, 1972, a couple driving up a dark dirt track planned on going to the target range, but a fallen tree blocked their path.  When they got out to move the tree they discovered Jody Loomis was shot in the head. The case remained unsolved for years. However, DNA was found at the crime scene on Jody’s body and the heel of her boot. The evidence was linked back to a family member of 78-year-old Terrence Miller using genetic genealogy (CODIS). In 2019, Terrance Miller was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. However, just hours before Miller would be convicted by a jury, he killed himself.

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Kym L. Pasqualini is the founder and former CEO of Nation's Missing Children Organization and National Center for Missing Adults.
Cold Cases Solved by DNA Technology

Every day murders go unsolved. The families of the people who have innocently been sexually assaulted, kidnapped, and violently murdered wait for justice, sometimes for decades, with many perpetrators going on to commit even more brutal murders.

According to the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), there are currently over 250,000 unsolved murders, increasing by approximately 6,000 unsolved homicides annually. This leads to growing caseloads for law enforcement, draining resources, and makes it difficult for law enforcement agencies with limited budgets.

However, in recent years, the families of unsolved murder victims have seen a glimmer of hope with the use of advanced DNA technology used to solved decades-old cases.

Law enforcement agencies throughout the country work with laboratories specializing in identifying genetic matches between DNA collected at the crime scene and DNA that has been entered into genetic genealogy sites and federal databases.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Combined DNA Index System is a collection of databases containing DNA profiles collected from samples from unsolved murders and other crimes, and DNA collected from offenders convicted of violent crimes, particular sexual assaults, which often leave forensic biological evidence from the perpetrator.

Investigators working on cold cases have begun to utilize genetic genealogy more and more to solve crimes.

One of the first high-profile cases solved with the use of genetic genealogy was the Golden State Killer. Former police officer Joseph James DeAngelo is an American serial killer and rapist who was charged with 13 murders, rapes, and burglaries that occurred throughout California from 1973 and 1986.

According to Inside Edition, investigators used a DNA sample from the scene of a double murder in Ventura, California in 1980. They matched the sample with distant relatives of DeAngelo on a genealogy website and arrested him in 2018.

According to reports, police departments throughout the United States have been able to crack at least 28 cold cases since 2018 using GEDmatch, genetic genealogy, and DNA testing.

In this article, we will zero in on three cases in which advances in genetic technology helped to catch violent killers and solve decades-old cold cases.

The Murder of Fawn Cox

On July 26, 1989, Fawn Cox, 16, was raped, strangled, and ultimately murdered in her own bedroom. Her alarm had gone off and she did not turn it off, so her mother and little sister went into her bedroom and found her lying there dead.

"I went over to shake her, Come on! Get up!' But she had been gone for a while," said Fawn Cox's sister, Felisa Cox.

Fawn was a junior at Northeast High School and a cashier at Worlds of Fun, a Kansas City amusement park until 11 p.m. that evening. She went straight to bed when she got home from work. Her family says they did not hear anything that night because the air conditioners were on. However, Felisa does remember that the family dog acted agitated that evening, which they had attributed to the dog being pregnant.

"To pick that home and that window to come in and leave undetected makes sense that the subject knew Fawn," Kansas City Police Department Sgt. Ben Caldwell told KCTV News.

Caldwell believes the attacker snuck in through the window that led to the second floor where Fawn's bedroom was.

The pain of living with the unsolved murder of Fawn has been devastating for her family.

"Awful. There's no word to explain it. No closure," said Felisa Cox. "Someone out there is living a normal life that she never got to grow up that these people are doing. I think about it every day."

In 2000, the family offered a $3,000 reward in hopes that it would lead to the discovery of Fawn's killer. "Money does do a lot on the streets," said Fawn's mother Beverly Cox. "That's what we're hoping and praying for.

Fawn's family fought for years to get advanced DNA techniques used on the case. They held fundraisers, even offering to pay for it themselves as the Kansas City Police could not afford it. Ultimately, the FBI paid for the testing.

Within a matter of weeks of utilizing advanced DNA techniques, the answer the family had waited so long for was received-but it was not what the family expected.

According to the Kansas City Police Department press release, in the summer of 2020, Operation Legend came to Kansas City, pumping federal resources into the department and enabling them to pursue advanced DNA technology, allowing law enforcement to compare the profile of the unknown suspect's DNA to other national databases and build a family tree of that person, narrowing the search to a small pool of suspects.

With the use of genealogy DNA testing, it was discovered the killer was Donald Cox, Jr. He was Fawn's cousin, who was about five years older than her. Unfortunately, justice would not be truly served as he died in 2006 of a suspicious death that was determined to have been the result of foul play.

Investigators that had worked on his death investigation had retained a blood sample from the investigation. Crime lab staff extracted the DNA from that blood sample and compared it to a DNA profile from bodily fluid recovered from Fawn's bedroom in 1989. It matched.

Although the family says there is relief in closure, answers are not always comforting.

It's a relief there's closure," said Felisa. "The answers aren't always what we are asking for, but there's closure."

The Murder of Jody Loomis

Around 5:30 p.m. on August 23, 1972, a couple drove up a dark dirt track off Penny Creek Road in Snohomish County, Washington. Back then, there were no developments or strip malls. It was all evergreens and farmland.

The couple had planned to go target shooting, but a fallen tree blocked their path as they ventured up the dirt road. As they got out to move the tree, they were shocked to find a found woman lying there dying from a gunshot wound to the head.

Jody Loomis, 20, lay in the woods in her panties, high socks, and dark waffle stomper-style boots. She had been shot above her right ear with a .22-caliber pistol.

According to the Herald Net, Jody was still alive but was not able to speak to the couple who raced her to Stevens Hospital, now Swedish Edmonds. She was pronounced dead on arrival.

Usually, Jody's parents drove her to the stable and dropped her off. That fateful day was the first time she had decided to take her 10-speed bicycle and ride to the stable on her own. The dirt road off Penny Creek is midway to the stable.

Her murder remained unsolved for decades, haunting both her family and investigators.

Over the course of many years, investigators tenaciously pursued the investigation, even passing out playing cards in jails hoping someone would come forward with information. The case slowly became a cold case, but to investigators and the Loomis family, there was still a glimmer of hope.

DNA was found at the crime scene on Jody's body and the heel of her boot.

The evidence was preserved for nearly 50 years and submitted for genetic genealogy identification, which linked it to a family member of 78-year-old Terrence Miller. Police had narrowed their search.

In 2019, Snohomish County Sheriff's Department arrested and charged Terrence Miller with first-degree murder. Miller was living in Edmonds, Washington, only 17 minutes away from where Jody was murdered over four decades earlier.

His DNA was collected from a discarded coffee cup and ultimately matched to the semen collected from Jody's boots.

According to the Seattle Times, Miller had been accused of sex crimes at least five times since the 1960s.

"After more than 46 years of searching for her killer, we finally have some answers for Jody's family," Snohomish County Sheriff Ty Trenary said in a statement. "Thanks to the relentless persistence of our cold-case team and new DNA technology, we are one step closer to justice for Jody.

However, just hours before Miller would be convicted by a jury, he killed himself.

The Murder of Carla Jan Walker

Carla Jan Walker, 17, was a beautiful cheerleader and student who was abducted out of the passenger seat of her boyfriend's car at a bowling alley in South Fort Worth, Texas, on February 16, 1974. Several days later, her body was discovered in a drainage culvert at Benbrook Lake, just west of the city. Her clothes were ripped, and she had been beaten, raped, tortured, and strangled to death.

Rodney McCoy was a quarterback on the Western Hills High School football team. He and Carla had attended Valentine's week dance and stopped by the bowling alley to see friends before planning to go home.

Rodney was in the driver's seat when Carla was kidnapped. At the time, McCoy told police the man pointed a gun at him and threatened to kill him, then knocked him unconscious by hitting him the head and face. Rodney said he woke up later to find Carla was gone.

"She was such a sweet girl," Rodney said to WFAA TV. "I remember we were in the front seat of the car. Her back was against the passenger side door. She was falling out. I went to grab her, and he started beating me over the head with a pistol."

The last thing Rodney remembers is Carla yelling, "Go get Dad [Mr. Walker]".

An autopsy of Carla's body revealed she had been injected with morphine leaving many questions about what happened to Carla during the three days between when she vanished, and her body was found. Decades passed with no answers.

Several men were questioned in Carla's Murder. One man was Glen Samuel McCurley, who was questioned less than two months after Carla's murder in 1974. A gun magazine had been found in the parking lot of the bowling alley where Carla was abducted, and police were able to tie it to McCurley. However, McCurley was released because he told investigators his gun had been stolen and there was not anything else tying him to the murder.

Flash forward four and half decades to September 10, 2020. Investigators returned to McCurley's home where he invited them in to talk to him and his wife. He repeated the same story he told detectives in 1974. He said he did not kill anyone and never knew Carla Walker.

Investigators asked him for a DNA sample to which he agreed and signed a consent form. Police took two swabs and sent them for analysis. It was sent to Othram, a lab that specializes in advanced testing of small amounts of DNA and developing a full DNA profile of perpetrators.

Six days later, police were notified the swabs matched the DNA found on Carla's bra. A warrant was obtained and McCurley was arrested on the charge of capital murder.

"The word that came across my brain was 'finally' ... after 46 years, five months, and three days, we have a name, a face and are working toward a complete resolution, Jim Walker, Carla's younger brother told the NBC 5. "This is a resolution that's been prayed for by many people for years now. I feel like, God put the right two detectives on the case."

In a twist, Jim also wanted McCurley's family to know they were in his prayers and it was not their fault. One man's full extension of sympathy for the brutal killer's family.

Jim decided to become a Fort Worth police officer nearly 45 years ago after his older sister was found murdered.

"My mom suffered in incredible silence," Jim told the Star-Telegram. "Back in the 1970s, you didn't have Dr. Phil showing up at your door or all this group support."

His parents have both passed away without ever knowing McCurley was arrested, without seeing justice, but Jim is there to see it through for his mother, to whom he made a pledge.

"This should show you that law enforcement is coming for you," Jim told the Star-Telegram. "It's not if you get caught, it's when."

This case and the many others that have been solved using DNA advanced techniques should also provide hope for the families of murder victims. Justice may just be right around the corner.
© 2021 Kym L Pasqualini

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3 Cold Case Murders Solved After Decades Using DNA Advancements

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There are thousands of unsolved murder cases throughout the United States, but thanks to advancements in genetic technology, justice is not out of reach for the families of the victims. Learn about three cold cases solved by DNA, including Fawn Cox and Jody Loomis.

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The Murder of Stephanie Isaacson - Mia and Matthew

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The Murder of Stephanie Isaacson - Mia and Matthew

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Bludgeoned, raped and strangled in an empty Las Vegas sandlot in 1989. Victim was Stephanie Isaacson, and Darren Roy Marchand, who was accused of a similar crime 3 years before Stephanie's death. CODIS was used.

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LAS VEGAS - When 14-year-old Stephanie Isaacson was found bludgeoned, raped and strangled in an empty Las Vegas sandlot in 1989, police had little to go on other than a small amount of DNA on her shirt.

The case went cold and stayed that way for 32 years.

Authorities announced July 21 that a Texas forensics lab had taken that tiny amount of genetic material - the equivalent of fewer than 15 human cells - and identified the teen's alleged killer. The minuscule DNA sample is the smallest amount ever used to solve a case, Las Vegas Metropolitan police officials said.

The material, combined with genetic genealogy research, has linked Darren Roy Marchand to Stephanie's murder. Marchand, who was accused of a similar murder three years before Stephanie's death, committed suicide in 1995 at the age of 29.

"I'm glad they found who murdered my daughter," Stephanie's mother, whose name was not released, said in a statement read by police. "I never believed the case would be solved."

Stephanie vanished the morning of June 1, 1989, as she walked her usual route to Eldorado High School, cutting through a sandlot on the way. According to authorities, her father got worried when she didn't return home that afternoon and called the school.

He learned from the front office that his daughter had never made it to class.

"At that point, her father contacted all of her friends, and none of them had seen her at school that day," said homicide Lt. Ray Spencer.

Stephanie's panicked father called the police.

"At that time, metro police began an exhaustive air and ground search attempting to locate Stephanie," Spencer said.

Around 8:40 p.m. that evening, some of the teen's textbooks and other belongings were spotted strewn near the intersection of Nellis Boulevard and Stewart Avenue, which in 1989 was still a "desert area," police said.

Search parties looking for the missing girl found her body about 25 yards off the trail she took to and from school each day.

Stephanie's autopsy showed that she'd suffered "significant blunt force trauma injuries and that she had been sexually assaulted," Spencer said. Her cause of death was strangulation.

Las Vegas detectives began a decades-long investigation to determine who had killed the teen. Multiple potential suspects were identified and eliminated, and investigators traveled across the country following up on leads.

Kim Murga, head of the department's forensics lab, said the DNA evidence had been tested multiple times over the decades as technology improved. It was not until 2007, however, that the stain on Stephanie's shirt provided a DNA profile of her killer.

Over the next 13 years, the lab compared the unknown man's DNA profile to more than 30 samples collected in the case. None matched.

In November 2020, Othram Inc., a private lab in The Woodlands, Texas, that specializes in genome sequencing for law enforcement, reached out to offer Murga and her team its services. There was still the issue of the cost of the testing, however.

That's where Las Vegas entrepreneur and philanthropist Justin Woo came in. Woo, the founder of the nonprofit organization Vegas Helps, donated $5,000 to help Othram and the police department solve a cold case that had little DNA evidence to work with.

"Stephanie's case was chosen specifically because of the minimal amount of DNA evidence that was available," Spencer said.
Watch the July 21 news conference in the case below.
Detectives sent the scant DNA evidence they had left to Othram, where forensic scientists spent the next seven months using the company's genome sequencing technique to build a genetic profile of the alleged killer.

"The Othram genealogy team used the profile to develop investigative leads that were returned to LVMPD," a news release from the company stated.

The leads ultimately led to Marchand.

From vacation last week, Woo congratulated Othram's scientists and Las Vegas cold case investigators on solving the case.

"What's better than vacationing in Greece? This!" Woo wrote on Facebook.

Woo told the Las Vegas Sun that a friend had introduced him to David Mittelman, founder and CEO of Othram. Impressed with the company's mission, he decided to fund the testing in a Las Vegas-area cold case from his own pocket.

"It's really such a sad case, and we're glad that we could help with it," Woo told the newspaper.

Marchand, who was 23 years old when Stephanie Isaacson was murdered, had previously been arrested in the Feb. 27, 1986, strangulation homicide of Nanette Vanderburg, 24, of Las Vegas. Details of that case were not available, but authorities said the case against Marchand was later dismissed for a lack of evidence.

There was DNA evidence in Vanderburg's killing, but testing was not yet available.

The new testing that linked Marchand to Stephanie's murder also linked him to Vanderburg's death.

"Marchand's DNA from the case involving Nanette was compared to the DNA located in Stephanie's case, and it was a match," police officials said.

It was unclear how detectives initially tied Marchand to Vanderburg's killing in 1986, but Spencer said there is no way to know if he knew Stephanie prior to the day of her murder.

"It appears to be a random attack while she was walking to school," the lieutenant said.

The slain teen's family has some of the answers they've sought for so long, but the man accused of killing her will never be held criminally responsible.

"It's good to have some closure, but there is no justice for Stephanie at all," her mother's statement read. "We will never have complete closure because nothing will ever bring my daughter back to us."

©2021 Cox Media Group

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Vegas police solve 32-year-old cold case with smallest amount of DNA evidence to date

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Authorities announced July 21 that a Texas forensics lab had taken a tiny amount of genetic material - the equivalent of fewer than 15 human cells - and identified the alleged killer of 14-year-old Stephanie Isaacson.

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The Murder of Fawn Cox- Teagan and Keira

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The Murder of Fawn Cox- Teagan and Keira

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https://thecrimewire.com/true-crime/Three-Cold-Case-Murders-Solved-After-Decades-Using-DNA-Advancements

This crime in Kansas City, Missouri on July 26, 1989, where Cox was raped, strangled, and beaten after a man snuck into her home through a window. This case turned cold as technology wasn't advanced enough. Years later, once police had the funding and means to analyze and detect DNA, the police used genetic testing (CODIS) to compare the DNA of the unknown suspect to the national databases to other family members. In the end, it was discovered in 2020, that her cousin, Donald Cox Junior had committed the crime in the end.

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Kym L. Pasqualini is the founder and former CEO of Nation's Missing Children Organization and National Center for Missing Adults.
Cold Cases Solved by DNA Technology

Every day murders go unsolved. The families of the people who have innocently been sexually assaulted, kidnapped, and violently murdered wait for justice, sometimes for decades, with many perpetrators going on to commit even more brutal murders.

According to the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), there are currently over 250,000 unsolved murders, increasing by approximately 6,000 unsolved homicides annually. This leads to growing caseloads for law enforcement, draining resources, and makes it difficult for law enforcement agencies with limited budgets.

However, in recent years, the families of unsolved murder victims have seen a glimmer of hope with the use of advanced DNA technology used to solved decades-old cases.

Law enforcement agencies throughout the country work with laboratories specializing in identifying genetic matches between DNA collected at the crime scene and DNA that has been entered into genetic genealogy sites and federal databases.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Combined DNA Index System is a collection of databases containing DNA profiles collected from samples from unsolved murders and other crimes, and DNA collected from offenders convicted of violent crimes, particular sexual assaults, which often leave forensic biological evidence from the perpetrator.

Investigators working on cold cases have begun to utilize genetic genealogy more and more to solve crimes.

One of the first high-profile cases solved with the use of genetic genealogy was the Golden State Killer. Former police officer Joseph James DeAngelo is an American serial killer and rapist who was charged with 13 murders, rapes, and burglaries that occurred throughout California from 1973 and 1986.

According to Inside Edition, investigators used a DNA sample from the scene of a double murder in Ventura, California in 1980. They matched the sample with distant relatives of DeAngelo on a genealogy website and arrested him in 2018.

According to reports, police departments throughout the United States have been able to crack at least 28 cold cases since 2018 using GEDmatch, genetic genealogy, and DNA testing.

In this article, we will zero in on three cases in which advances in genetic technology helped to catch violent killers and solve decades-old cold cases.

The Murder of Fawn Cox

On July 26, 1989, Fawn Cox, 16, was raped, strangled, and ultimately murdered in her own bedroom. Her alarm had gone off and she did not turn it off, so her mother and little sister went into her bedroom and found her lying there dead.

"I went over to shake her, Come on! Get up!' But she had been gone for a while," said Fawn Cox's sister, Felisa Cox.

Fawn was a junior at Northeast High School and a cashier at Worlds of Fun, a Kansas City amusement park until 11 p.m. that evening. She went straight to bed when she got home from work. Her family says they did not hear anything that night because the air conditioners were on. However, Felisa does remember that the family dog acted agitated that evening, which they had attributed to the dog being pregnant.

"To pick that home and that window to come in and leave undetected makes sense that the subject knew Fawn," Kansas City Police Department Sgt. Ben Caldwell told KCTV News.

Caldwell believes the attacker snuck in through the window that led to the second floor where Fawn's bedroom was.

The pain of living with the unsolved murder of Fawn has been devastating for her family.

"Awful. There's no word to explain it. No closure," said Felisa Cox. "Someone out there is living a normal life that she never got to grow up that these people are doing. I think about it every day."

In 2000, the family offered a $3,000 reward in hopes that it would lead to the discovery of Fawn's killer. "Money does do a lot on the streets," said Fawn's mother Beverly Cox. "That's what we're hoping and praying for.

Fawn's family fought for years to get advanced DNA techniques used on the case. They held fundraisers, even offering to pay for it themselves as the Kansas City Police could not afford it. Ultimately, the FBI paid for the testing.

Within a matter of weeks of utilizing advanced DNA techniques, the answer the family had waited so long for was received-but it was not what the family expected.

According to the Kansas City Police Department press release, in the summer of 2020, Operation Legend came to Kansas City, pumping federal resources into the department and enabling them to pursue advanced DNA technology, allowing law enforcement to compare the profile of the unknown suspect's DNA to other national databases and build a family tree of that person, narrowing the search to a small pool of suspects.

With the use of genealogy DNA testing, it was discovered the killer was Donald Cox, Jr. He was Fawn's cousin, who was about five years older than her. Unfortunately, justice would not be truly served as he died in 2006 of a suspicious death that was determined to have been the result of foul play.

Investigators that had worked on his death investigation had retained a blood sample from the investigation. Crime lab staff extracted the DNA from that blood sample and compared it to a DNA profile from bodily fluid recovered from Fawn's bedroom in 1989. It matched.

Although the family says there is relief in closure, answers are not always comforting.

It's a relief there's closure," said Felisa. "The answers aren't always what we are asking for, but there's closure."

The Murder of Jody Loomis

Around 5:30 p.m. on August 23, 1972, a couple drove up a dark dirt track off Penny Creek Road in Snohomish County, Washington. Back then, there were no developments or strip malls. It was all evergreens and farmland.

The couple had planned to go target shooting, but a fallen tree blocked their path as they ventured up the dirt road. As they got out to move the tree, they were shocked to find a found woman lying there dying from a gunshot wound to the head.

Jody Loomis, 20, lay in the woods in her panties, high socks, and dark waffle stomper-style boots. She had been shot above her right ear with a .22-caliber pistol.

According to the Herald Net, Jody was still alive but was not able to speak to the couple who raced her to Stevens Hospital, now Swedish Edmonds. She was pronounced dead on arrival.

Usually, Jody's parents drove her to the stable and dropped her off. That fateful day was the first time she had decided to take her 10-speed bicycle and ride to the stable on her own. The dirt road off Penny Creek is midway to the stable.

Her murder remained unsolved for decades, haunting both her family and investigators.

Over the course of many years, investigators tenaciously pursued the investigation, even passing out playing cards in jails hoping someone would come forward with information. The case slowly became a cold case, but to investigators and the Loomis family, there was still a glimmer of hope.

DNA was found at the crime scene on Jody's body and the heel of her boot.

The evidence was preserved for nearly 50 years and submitted for genetic genealogy identification, which linked it to a family member of 78-year-old Terrence Miller. Police had narrowed their search.

In 2019, Snohomish County Sheriff's Department arrested and charged Terrence Miller with first-degree murder. Miller was living in Edmonds, Washington, only 17 minutes away from where Jody was murdered over four decades earlier.

His DNA was collected from a discarded coffee cup and ultimately matched to the semen collected from Jody's boots.

According to the Seattle Times, Miller had been accused of sex crimes at least five times since the 1960s.

"After more than 46 years of searching for her killer, we finally have some answers for Jody's family," Snohomish County Sheriff Ty Trenary said in a statement. "Thanks to the relentless persistence of our cold-case team and new DNA technology, we are one step closer to justice for Jody.

However, just hours before Miller would be convicted by a jury, he killed himself.

The Murder of Carla Jan Walker

Carla Jan Walker, 17, was a beautiful cheerleader and student who was abducted out of the passenger seat of her boyfriend's car at a bowling alley in South Fort Worth, Texas, on February 16, 1974. Several days later, her body was discovered in a drainage culvert at Benbrook Lake, just west of the city. Her clothes were ripped, and she had been beaten, raped, tortured, and strangled to death.

Rodney McCoy was a quarterback on the Western Hills High School football team. He and Carla had attended Valentine's week dance and stopped by the bowling alley to see friends before planning to go home.

Rodney was in the driver's seat when Carla was kidnapped. At the time, McCoy told police the man pointed a gun at him and threatened to kill him, then knocked him unconscious by hitting him the head and face. Rodney said he woke up later to find Carla was gone.

"She was such a sweet girl," Rodney said to WFAA TV. "I remember we were in the front seat of the car. Her back was against the passenger side door. She was falling out. I went to grab her, and he started beating me over the head with a pistol."

The last thing Rodney remembers is Carla yelling, "Go get Dad [Mr. Walker]".

An autopsy of Carla's body revealed she had been injected with morphine leaving many questions about what happened to Carla during the three days between when she vanished, and her body was found. Decades passed with no answers.

Several men were questioned in Carla's Murder. One man was Glen Samuel McCurley, who was questioned less than two months after Carla's murder in 1974. A gun magazine had been found in the parking lot of the bowling alley where Carla was abducted, and police were able to tie it to McCurley. However, McCurley was released because he told investigators his gun had been stolen and there was not anything else tying him to the murder.

Flash forward four and half decades to September 10, 2020. Investigators returned to McCurley's home where he invited them in to talk to him and his wife. He repeated the same story he told detectives in 1974. He said he did not kill anyone and never knew Carla Walker.

Investigators asked him for a DNA sample to which he agreed and signed a consent form. Police took two swabs and sent them for analysis. It was sent to Othram, a lab that specializes in advanced testing of small amounts of DNA and developing a full DNA profile of perpetrators.

Six days later, police were notified the swabs matched the DNA found on Carla's bra. A warrant was obtained and McCurley was arrested on the charge of capital murder.

"The word that came across my brain was 'finally' ... after 46 years, five months, and three days, we have a name, a face and are working toward a complete resolution, Jim Walker, Carla's younger brother told the NBC 5. "This is a resolution that's been prayed for by many people for years now. I feel like, God put the right two detectives on the case."

In a twist, Jim also wanted McCurley's family to know they were in his prayers and it was not their fault. One man's full extension of sympathy for the brutal killer's family.

Jim decided to become a Fort Worth police officer nearly 45 years ago after his older sister was found murdered.

"My mom suffered in incredible silence," Jim told the Star-Telegram. "Back in the 1970s, you didn't have Dr. Phil showing up at your door or all this group support."

His parents have both passed away without ever knowing McCurley was arrested, without seeing justice, but Jim is there to see it through for his mother, to whom he made a pledge.

"This should show you that law enforcement is coming for you," Jim told the Star-Telegram. "It's not if you get caught, it's when."

This case and the many others that have been solved using DNA advanced techniques should also provide hope for the families of murder victims. Justice may just be right around the corner.
© 2021 Kym L Pasqualini

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
3 Cold Case Murders Solved After Decades Using DNA Advancements

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
There are thousands of unsolved murder cases throughout the United States, but thanks to advancements in genetic technology, justice is not out of reach for the families of the victims. Learn about three cold cases solved by DNA, including Fawn Cox and Jody Loomis.