Soon after the murder, William DeRoos left his then-wife, moved to Thailand and became a monk. By. In a statement announcing the closure of the investigation, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office stated its confidence that "the evidence in this case would support a conviction of Drummond for the murder of Joette Smith.". Another victim of a brutal murder who went unidentified for decades, Lina Reyes Geddes was found near a spring in the vicinity of Lake Powell, Utah, in 1998, shot, bound, and wrapped in a sleeping bag. This is the fifth time the Sheriff's Homicide Unit has used investigative genetic genealogy to solve a cold case. But that doesnt mean there wasnt some connection that we havent figured out yet, Womer said. A podcast dedicated to highlighting cold cases that have been solved and closed. A number of true crime updates came to light in 2022, with many cold cases solved through forensic genetic genealogy. Jerome Frank Jones, 51, has been charged with aggravated murder in the 1994 deaths of Stacy Falcon-Dewey, 23, and her 3-year-old son, Jacob Dewey, in Renton, Washington, according to the documents filed Tuesday. As with many such cases, the DNA evidence taken from Smith's body was insufficient to pin the crime on Drummond in the '80s, and although there was significant circumstantial evidence of his involvement, he walked free for nearly four decades. The keys to the car appeared to have been dropped between the drivers seat and the door and were not readily visible, the document says. On Tuesday,. These familial matches led police to David Sinopoli, one of Beichlers neighbors at the time. She was found two days later, sexually assaulted and strangled. (The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children). Both families tried to report the couple missing, but were told by authorities that they probably didn't want to be contacted. If convicted, Jones would face a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, the documents said. In February 1990, about 15 months after she was killed, the paper received an anonymous letter from a concerned citizen with information that only the killer would know, police said. In addition, forensic genetic genealogy has given back the names of Jane and John Does who had remained unidentified for decades. It was abusive, and I ran away at 15 years old. On October 11, 2022, Marilyn Mosby announced that all charges had been dropped against Syed due to advanced DNA testing on Lee's clothing. Cold case murder that inspired 'Twin Peaks' solved 100 years later: Book By Caroline Howe January 1, 2022 7:25am Updated After five years of research, a pair of "Twin Peaks" fans claim they. These two cases were investigated separately until 2003, when the national DNA database CODIS revealed that samples from both crimes matched the same man. Arizona: Woman found dead in 1971 identified 52 years later after community fundraiser for DNA testing. Stephanie Pagones is a Digital Reporter for FOX Business and Fox News. Police released this image of James Paul Forte from his high school yearbook. 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. According to A&E, of the 285,000 cold cases in the United States, just one in five will ever officially name a new suspect. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. This, combined with re-interviewing witnesses and reviewing statements, led investigators to finally gather enough evidence for an arrest. No child should ever have to grow up without their mom.. Fortunately, the profession seems to attract those who have this quality, as proven by the many decades-old cases which finally see their resolutions every single year. Cottingham, now 73, has said he has killed as many as 100 people in New Jersey and New York and is already spending life in prison for the 1960 murders of several females. Forte would have been 22 at the time of the crime. (NCMEC/ Highsmith family Facebook page). Through that, police were able the get their first genealogical match: a very distant relative, possibly a 6th cousin, according to Brutosky. He was arrested in July 2022. 2 min; DEC 14, 2022; 3 YEAR OLD COLD CASE SOLVED CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. This time, it wasn't advances in DNA technology that helped crack the case, but in technology of a different sort: GPS. Updated The man who would eventually be named as her killer, Raymond Moody, had been a person of interest in Brittanee Drexel's disappearance as far back as 2012 but until just recently, they had nothing solid connecting him to the crime. Investigators analyzed Kanes clothing and found traces of an unknown mans DNA. That detail was a small mole on Geddes' right ear, which was enough for police to make a tenuous connection to Geddes. She was eventually dubbed the El Dorado Jane Doe.. In her pockets were two notes and some cash; one note clarified to police that the death had been a suicide, and the other directed them to use the cash for funeral expenses. All Rights Reserved. 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]. Warren Robertson was Diane Lynn Dahn's neighbor inside the same apartment complex in San Diego, California in 1988. Jessica Baggen, a 17-year-old from Sitka, Alaska, disappeared in early May 1996. NYC 'TORSO KILLER PLEADS GUILTY TO 1968 MURDER OF LONG ISLAND WOMAN DIANE CUSICK, ADMITS TO KILLING 4 OTHERS. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. On May 11, 2022, the remains of Brittanee Drexel were found in South Carolina. She was stabbed 19 times, and prosecutors say evidence at the scene suggested a sexual motive. Unfortunately, no substantial leads were obtained in the case, and Beichlers murder went cold. ' It turned out that during her life, the young woman had used a number of aliases, including Kelly Carr, Sharon Wiley, Cheryl Wick, and Mercedes. They found Knutson's body; investigators determined she'd been deceased for over a day. Raymond Moody, 62, pleaded guilty Oct. 19, 2022, in Georgetown, South Carolina, to raping and killing 17-year-old Brittanee Drexel in 2009. Anna Kane was 26 when her body was found on October 23, 1988, in a wooded area near Reading, Pennsylvania, with baling twine around her neck. At the time, the San Diego County Sheriffs homicide unit conducted an extensive investigation, but the department came up short on identifying a suspect until now. In 1974, Forte plead guilty to aggravated assault and served a year of probation, according to Baron. 2023 Cable News Network. At a cemetery in Annandale, Virginia (pictured), the body of a middle-aged woman was found. New DNA evidence shows someone else did it. 2023 Cable News Network. CeCe Moore, scientist and genealogy expert at Parabon Nanolabs, was able to match the DNA to William DeRoos within hours of research through genealogical records and public records. Here are a dozen of the most stubbornly unresolved cold cases that were finally put to bed in 2022. Then Reyes got a call last week from a detective about a stunning development in the case. 00:22 Sophie Sergie04:45 Marise Chiverella07:56 Roxanne Leig. A Warner Bros. "Boy in the Box" identified as 4-year-old Joseph Augustus Zarelli. In January 1981, the remains of a man and a woman were found murdered in woods outside of Houston, TX. NEBRASKA MAN ID'D AS MINNESOTA COLD CASE MURDER VICTIM, The real Melissa Highsmith beside a colorized photo illustration of what she was believed to look like from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. In 2019, with help from Parabon Nano-Labs, the DNA profile was uploaded to GED Match, a genealogical database. Investigators said they identified Grim as the killer using genetic genealogy, which combines DNA evidence and traditional genealogy to find biological connections among people. Antoinette Parks, Gwendolyn Harris and Madeleine Furey-Livaudais. He was identified as a suspect five years after Smith was found, but with no physical evidence to tie him to the murder, he was never arrested. Knutson had been stabbed to death with a pocket knife, which was found at the crime scene. 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. She was portrayed as this slain prostitute, like she deserved what happened to her, said Reyes, 43, who lives in Lenhartsville, Pennsylvania. Cottingham was known to approach his victims in mall parking lots and accuse them of stealing while imitating a security guard. Forte you would need to search over 4 million planet earths.. The case was re-investigated by Yolanda McClary, a genealogy research and crime scene investigator, in 2018, and four years of searching finally led to Kelly's true identity being uncovered. The Fort Worth Police Department said it plans to investigate the disappearance, but the statute of limitations on pursuing criminal charges in the kidnapping has passed. He has been a guest speaker on numerous national radio and television stations and is a five time published author. She was murdered around midnight on July 19 and was found strangled, beaten and sexually assaulted. Moody had been a suspect since 2012, but it was not immediately made public what evidence led to his arrest. Its also become a valuable tool for law enforcement officers trying to solve old crimes. The man who killed Rita Curran was a suspect for years and was questioned by police at the time of the murder. Did you encounter any technical issues? As it happened, around this same time, Cates was in the hospital in North Carolina, and as Florida detectives were shoring up their case, Cates blurted out to a nurse that he had killed someone in Florida decades prior. According to Garden Grove Deputy Police Chief Amir Al Farra, she was sexually assaulted and strangled to death. In October 2000, a sample of DNA was taken from underneath Dahns fingernails. until you are in jail. Fortes DNA was a match to genetic material found on the victims jacket.[7]. Nearly 58 years later, police solve cold case murder of 9-year-old Pennsylvania girl The men responsible for the killings were identified as Billy Sunday Birt, Bobby Gene Gaddis, Charles David. In recent years this method has helped solve some of the nations most high-profile cold cases, including the one of the notorious Golden State Killer. Syed was sentenced to life in prison in 2000 but has maintained his innocence all along. Greg Harder of the Elkhart County Police noticed a possible piece of DNA evidence that was missed. Did you encounter any technical issues? As the months and years pass by, these families live in a . He spent two decades in prison for church murders. 3:28 PM EST, Thu February 17, 2022. Of stealing while imitating a security guard they probably did n't want to be contacted had unidentified. Murdered around midnight on July 19 and was found at the time with re-interviewing witnesses and reviewing statements led. 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