Cold Case detectives couldnt figure out the connection between Robertson and Dahn. Despite the abundance of blood at the scene, none of the DNA could be conclusively linked to anyone other than the victim. She was a mother. Did you encounter any technical issues? Ten years later, investigators opened Dahns case again, looking for new leads and use of new technology. 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. Unfortunately, there was no match to a suspect at the time. Curran's case was put on the back burner for years, making it the oldest cold case in the department. Our family now knows the identity of her murderer, said Radtke. But that doesnt mean there wasnt some connection that we havent figured out yet, Womer said. She was more than that, she was a victim. Police say there was a struggle at the scene, based on the evidence collected. The murder of 33-year-old Santa Cruz, California, restaurant owner Joette Smith was precipitated by what should have been an innocuous circumstance. They just wanted justice. 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. It was obtained legally through a search warrant, Trate said. No one knew what had become of her. Today we take a look at 20 cold cases that were solved in 2022. 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. 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In February 2019, DNA from Baggens clothes and body was submitted to a public genealogy database after previous attempts to match the DNA had been unsuccessful. Former Sen. Patrick Leahy,who was county prosecutor at the time of the murder, said he saw many gruesome crimes during his time as prosecutor but Rita Curran's family stayed in this thoughts for years after. 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. Despite his confession, Kinlaw couldn't be charged with the murder until positive identification of his victim was made and with that accomplished, a first-degree murder charge was filed against him in July 2022. Its also become a valuable tool for law enforcement officers trying to solve old crimes. Investigators determined Drexel was strangled. Published "I am mourning my beautiful daughter Brittanee as I have for the past 13 years. Cold case solved 34 years later when police trace DNA evidence from licked envelope | CNN Her slaying went unsolved for 34 years. 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. In September 2022, Drummond died by suicide as the police were closing in a life that almost certainly would have been lived out in the slammer otherwise. On Tuesday, investigators said they had solved the casethrough modern DNA and genealogy technology. 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. Lee had disappeared and her body was found several weeks later, strangled. This facial reconstruction is an artist's rendering of what the Jane Doe may have looked like. The main problem with positively identifying her was the fact that her fingertips had been cut off, and entreaties to the public for help yielded nothing, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. Drexel was last seen on April 25, 2009, while on a spring break trip with friends in Myrtle Beach, SC. In an interview with the suspect in a California prison, Jones confirmed he lived near Renton from 1994-1995 but denied ever meeting or knowing Falcon-Dewey, the document said. Dukat was only 8 years old, grabbed by a stranger and killed with a 20-pound rock in a shallow stream on her short walk home from school, according to the Columbus Dispatch. In March 2022, 15 years after Knutson's murder, police arrested Rice (34 at the time) for the murder. This would prove to be an incorrect guess, and as there was a dearth of reported missing child cases involving children of that age, police hit a dead end in the case of the girl who would become known to locals as "Little Miss Nobody" (via CBS News). The coroner determined her manner of death to be strangulation. According to WRDW News, the case is believed to be the first time that both a murder victim and perpetrator were identified using DNA technology in the same case. The bodies of Falcon-Dewey and her son were discovered on October 28, 1994, after a Seattle Times newspaper delivery person called 911 and reported seeing the mothers body, according to a probable cause document. Meanwhile, Reyes still misses her mother. Investigators were surprised when Dean's sister, after learning of her brother's death, asked, Where's the baby?. Jessica Baggen, a 17-year-old from Sitka, Alaska, disappeared in early May 1996. There was just intimate details about where she was disposed of, how her clothes were displayed, stuff like that, Womer said. (Yavapai County Sheriff's Office). CNN has reached out to Karim Merchant, Jones public defender, for comment. A number of true crime updates came to light in 2022, with many cold cases solved through forensic genetic genealogy. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 3K Followers. 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. Soon after the murder, William DeRoos left his then-wife, moved to Thailand and became a monk. or redistributed. The body of a young child tragically known as "Little Miss Nobody" was identified in February after remaining a mystery for over 60 years. DNA technology was credited with cracking the case. The 1980 murder of Asenath Dukat was one that shook the Columbus, Ohio community for a simple reason. A DNA sample taken at the time of that arrest was eventually used to connect him to the Lloyd and Cuevas slayings. Did you encounter any technical issues? 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. To confirm, Forte was exhumed last month so that investigators could take a DNA sample to match the suspects profile. REMAINS OF LITTLE MISS NOBODY IDD AS NEW MEXICO GIRL, 4, ABDUCTED IN 1960 AND FOUND IN ARIZONA DESERT. In 1971, Melissa Highsmith was 22 months old when a babysitter kidnapped her in Fort Worth, TX. An image of "Little Miss Nobody," a girl discovered in a remote Arizona desert more than 60 years ago. A local newspaper, the Reading Eagle, ran a front-page story seeking information on Kanes death. 2023 Cable News Network. Before the judge overturned the conviction, prosecutors in Baltimore had asked for a new trial the previous week. Police were hoping this was the break in the case they needed, but the DNA didnt return any matches. Chiverellas siblings said that their parents never sought revenge or punishment to their daughters killer. Forte you would need to search over 4 million planet earths.. 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. After years of waiting for justice, she was relieved investigators finally had named her mothers killer. Dahns family, including Mark Beyer, her then 2-year-old son who has no recollection of the incident, spent 34 years wondering who murdered her and why, but thanks to investigative genetic genealogy, investigators were able to track down the suspect, Warren Robertson, a man who also lived in the same apartment complex as Dahn in 1988, according to investigators. "Let this serve as a warning to every murderer, rapist, and violent offender out there," said Keri Farley, special agent in charge of the investigation. A man named Steve Branch was identified as a person of interest. But, after 52 years, Curran's family finally has closure. Originally from Rochester, New York, Drexel was spending her spring break vacation in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and was last seen walking from one hotel to another. The police don't give up.". FOLEY, Ala. ( WALA) - Twenty-two years ago, a man's body was pulled from Styx River in . Investigators discovered, however, that soon after that interview, Smith had moved to Little Falls, New York, and changed his surname to Becker a circumstance that prompted them to bring him in for a new round of interviews. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. The case was revived in 2021 when Sgt. Behind every long-term missing person or unsolved murder case is a family who continues to look for answers. The woman allegedly offered her clothes and sweets, but she refused, at which point she was forced into the vehicle. Las Vegas police use DNA testing and genealogical research to solve 42-year-old homicide of teen girl, Its unfortunate my nephew never had the chance to know his mom, Dahn-Minter said during a police news conference. Further testing was done in 2001, but the profile was insufficient to place into a federal database of DNA from unsolved crimes or CODIS, police said. 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