Due to these advances, police have been able to close the book on many cold case murders, all thanks to criminals who left a little DNA before they even knew it could get them caught. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. 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. 60, College student with passion for genealogy helps solve Marise Chiverella cold case, Detectives: Joette Marie Smith taught us to not give up, Willoughby Police solve cold case with new DNA technology, Authorities Arrest Man Linked To 1975 Pennsylvania Murder By DNA Testing, Ten Cold Case Killings That Have Puzzled Police for Decades, 10 Years-Old Cold Cases That Were Solved by Cigarettes, 10 Famous Cold Cases That Could Be Solved In 2021, Top 10 Mysteries, Cold Cases & Puzzles That Were, Top 10 Best Movies Of The Last 10 Decades, Top 10 Best Comedy Duos Of The Last 10 Decades, 10 Abducted Children Who Found Their Way Home Decades Later, Top 10 Bizarre Elements Of The Elisa Lam Case, 10 Awesome New Discoveries About the Human Past from DNA, Ten True Tales from Americas Toughest Prison, 10 Times Members of Secretive Societies and Organizations Spilled the Beans, 10 Common Idioms with Unexpectedly Dark Origins, 10 North American Animals with Misplaced Reputations, Top 10 Creepiest and Strangest Homes on Zillow, Top Ten Worst Book to Movie Adaptations Ever Filmed, Ten Seriously Spooky Unsolved Spring Break Mysteries, 10 Significant Biblical Archaeology Discoveries, 10 Huge Songs You Didnt Know Were Written for Movies, 10 Amazing Animals That Can Detect Human Diseases, Top 10 Grim Cold Cases With Recent Twists And Turns, 10 Tragic Unsolved Cases Of Murdered Families, 10 Twisted Facts About Peter Kurten, The Vampire Of Dusseldorf, 10 Atrocious Experiments Conducted By Unit 731, 10 Loving Fathers Who Snapped And Slaughtered Their Families, 10 Seemingly Innocent People Who Were Secretly Monsters. All Rights Reserved. Police said Josephs parents have since died, and no one claimed the child or reported him missing at the time his remains were discovered. 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. It was the rare case in which a fleeting moment of conscience, and not new technology, was the key to unraveling a three-decade-old crime. Diane Lynn Dahn died on May 2, 1988. COLD CASED SOLVED Once again, as with high-profile cases like the Golden State Killer murders and the Bear Brooke murders, the guys and gals at Parabon NanoLabs have uncovered the perpetrator in another cold case. A new division at the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, dubbed the Cold Case Homicide Squad, took over the investigation in 2005 -- but it would still be another 16 years until a forensic. The prior DNA connection between the suspect and swabs taken from Falcon-Dewey was also confirmed, it said. Ten days prior to the discovery of her remains, little Sharon was abducted by two people who had allegedly been stalking her. 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. 2023 Cable News Network. She was portrayed as this slain prostitute, like she deserved what happened to her, said Reyes, 43, who lives in Lenhartsville, Pennsylvania. An undated image of Sharon Gallegos. Published He was arrested in July 2022. Richard Cottingham makes a remote appearance in a courtroom in Mineola, N.Y., Dec. 5, 2022. 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. No child should ever have to grow up without their mom.. She was strangled in 1988. According to Garden Grove Deputy Police Chief Amir Al Farra, she was sexually assaulted and strangled to death. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. Physical evidence was able to close the deal in 2022. Most of us love a good mystery - as long as it's in a book or a movie, and does not remain unsolved. 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. To law enforcement agencies everywhere, arguably one of the greatest of these technologies would be the myriad uses of DNA profiling and, more recently, forensic genealogy. That heartbreaking nickname was retired forever in 2022, thanks to DNA retrieved from the little girl's remains in 2015. By. Louise was eventually arrested for the double homicide in 2022.[3]. The search for Melissa Highsmith had a rare happy ending. (Nassau County District Attorney's Office). DNA testing at home in Japan is starting to gain traction as more people age and seek answers about their risks for diseases. They declined to elaborate how they obtained his DNA when hes been dead for four years. Missing Melissa Highsmith reunited with family. Key pieces of evidence had been kept in storage, however, and in 2014 several items including a LARK cigarette butt found on the floor next to Curran after the murder were sent to a forensic lab in New York City for DNA testing. 10 Unsettling Unsolved Cold Cases - Listverse Crime | April 26, 2022 10 Unsettling Unsolved Cold Cases by Estelle fact checked by Darci Heikkinen The saying goes, "the truth always comes out in the end." And for the most part, through life's twists and turns, that saying seems to ring true. Unfortunately, there was no match to a suspect at the time. ' 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. 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. Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby said prosecutors were not confident in the integrity of the conviction after a state investigation. But while her killer was soon arrested and convicted, her identity turned out to be a longer mystery. Raymond Moody, now 62, pleaded guilty during an Oct. 19, 2022, hearing in Georgetown, South Carolina. But, after 52 years, Curran's family finally has closure. You see, homicide cases as you likely realize from the six thousand true-crime documentaries which set you on this career path in the first place can often take a very long time to resolve. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Investigators were surprised when Dean's sister, after learning of her brother's death, asked, Where's the baby?. Throughout the years, more than 230 members of the Pennsylvania State Police worked on the case to no avail. 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. The DNA profile matched Eric Drummond. Unfortunately for criminals and murderers, this means its much easier to get caught, especially for those who committed crimes before DNA testing. After being interviewed by troopers in his Arkansas home in early August 2020, Branch died by suicide. Chiverellas siblings said that their parents never sought revenge or punishment to their daughters killer. With each breakthrough, investigators have gotten one step closer to finding answers and, in turn, a resolution. NILES, Mich. - A Michigan cold case that dates back to 1987 was solved earlier this year, and Western Michigan University students . Police released this image of James Paul Forte from his high school yearbook. But the ID had been stolen from someone else; the real Wick told HuffPost: "My sister lived at home and she called me up crying The police told my parents that I had gotten murdered and I was like, 'No, I'm fine. This is the fifth time the Sheriffs Homicide Unit has used investigative genetic genealogy to solve a cold case. Cottingham was known to approach his victims in mall parking lots and accuse them of stealing while imitating a security guard. Investigators determined Drexel was strangled. The cases of Sophie Sergie and Marise Ann Chiverella went unsolved for decades, but thanks to DNA a. A look at the best and most underrated in entertainment, music, and sports in 2022. Two other possible suspects, who remain unnamed, were not properly ruled out nor disclosed to the defense, Mosby said. 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.". While Chapa died in 2021, just nine months before being identified, police and the FBI are looking into the possibility that Chapa is connected to other crimes in other states.[4]. 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 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. 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. The window screen was cut out of her bedroom window, but nothing was stolen, and investigators suspected the screen had been cut after the murder to make the window look like an entry point. His remains were identified 47 years later. The woman took her fromher home in Fort Worth, Texas, in August 1971. Her death was later ruled a homicide, though a cause was not determined. Cusicks parents reported her missing after the 23-year-old woman never returned home from a trip to the Green Acres Mall. Police had gained new information about a party back in 2008 or 2009, where Rice allegedly admitted to the murder while intoxicated. This led investigators to believe that whoever wrote the letter had committed the homicide.. Highsmith disappeared from Fort Worth, Texas, Aug. 23, 1971, when she was just 21 months old. In May 2022, genome sequencing technology became available to the Fairfax police department, enabling investigators to reach out to potential family members. 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. 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. 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. It didn't take long - in June of 2022, Holly was found alive, living in Oklahoma, after she'd been adopted as an infant. Also known as investigative genetic genealogy, this relatively new practice involves finding criminals via companies that collect consumer DNA samples for genealogy purposes. Reyes said shes still bothered by the image the media painted of her mother, who was unemployed at the time of her death. Over the next 14 years, authorities diligently ruled out the presence of any DNA not matching Strutner's in the 1980 evidence and finally, in 2022, he was named as Dukat's murderer. "One of our sisters called her daughter the youngest one and her daughter led us to her mom," Jeff Highsmith,who had never met his older sister, previously told Fox News Digital. Known only as Kelly to protect her family's privacy, the woman's identity was finally revealed through DNA testing. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. The man who killed Rita Curran was a suspect for years and was questioned by police at the time of the murder. An initial connection to Jones was established in 2002 through DNA evidence, according to the document. Here is a look at some of the top cold cases solved in 2022. CNN . While his identity was a major break in the case, police are still working to determine who killed Joseph and why. 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. In 1988, state authorities in Georgia were presented with a crime that would seem nearly impossible to solve: The killing of 19-year-old Stacey Chahorski, whose body was found alongside a highway near the state's border with Alabama. A number of true crime updates came to light in 2022, with many cold cases solved through forensic genetic genealogy. As the months and years pass by, these families live in a . The lack of closure has added to the distress of losing their mother, she said. 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. He died in the hospital three days later, and his murder would become the oldest such unsolved crime in the history of the county, according to the New York Post. 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). The DNA was eventually matched to one Ray Chapa, who at the time of the murder was Loves 19-year-old neighbor. Our family now knows the identity of her murderer, said Radtke. She was a mother. Fox News Digitals Audrey Conklin, Danielle Wallace, Pilar Arias and Louis Casiano contributed to this report. A Warner Bros. 25, 2022 at 9:15 PM PDT. In April 1986, 32-year-old Janet Love was found raped and murdered in her Bedford, Texas, apartment. 'Help me find my children': How race affects social media efforts to find missing kids. 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. Follow reporterLilly St. Angelo onTwitter: @lilly_st_ang. 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. 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. They did, however, find that both were racing enthusiasts and attended stock car races at the El Cajon Speedway around the time of Dahns murder. 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. In 2007, Anita Knutson was a student attending Minot State University in North Dakota. Over 230. Police theorized that the killing may have been part of a pattern of attempted child abductions going on at the time, and over the years following, they investigated a slew of potential suspects, even resorting to the not-so-solid technique of hypnotizing subjects in their attempts to elicit a confession. 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. The woman allegedly offered her clothes and sweets, but she refused, at which point she was forced into the vehicle. For over 60 years, the identity of a girl whose body was found in an Arizona desert has been a mystery. A Warner Bros. Thanks to these samples, a number of high-profile crimes have been solved in the past few years, perhaps most notably the arrest and conviction of the Golden State Killer. 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