11 Cold Cases That Had Revolutionary Breakthroughs Decades Later
In the past few years, there's been an uptick in resolved cold cases thanks to advances in DNA technology and the introduction of genetic genealogy research.
As of September 2021, investigative genetic genealogy — which uses genetic information collected from direct-to-consumer companies like GEDmatch and FamilyTreeDNA to identify suspects and victims — has led to the successful identification of over 150 suspects, including high profile identifications like the Golden State Killer.
These discoveries have brought justice and closure for hundreds of victims and families of victims who've spent decades without answers. But the use of investigative genetic genealogy is not without controversy, and as more law enforcement agencies utilize the technology, privacy implications of the technique have come under scrutiny.
So, here are some of the most notorious cold cases that have been solved decades later with advancements in technology:
Content warning: These cases contain mention of rape and murder.
1.Bear Brook murders: In 1985, a hunter found the bodies of a young girl and adult women inside a metal 55-gallon drum in Bear Brook State Park. Fifteen years later in 2000, another drum was found with the remains of two young girls inside. For decades, their identities remained a mystery.
In 2017, investigators and genetic genealogist Barbara Rae-Venter used a new forensic technique known as genetic genealogy to connect Terry Rasmussen, also known as the Chameleon Killer, to the Bear Brook murders. They also discovered he was the father of the middle child. At this time, Rasmussen was seven years dead, and the identities of the four girls still remained a mystery.
That is until 2019, when amateur investigator Becky Heath (pictured above) identified three of the four victims — Marlyse Elizabeth Honeychurch, and her daughters, Marie Elizabeth Vaughn and Sarah Lynn McWaters. Heath was looking for clues on ancestry websites to help identify the victims when she discovered the Honeychurch family searching for their daughter, which matched the timeline of the murders. Rae-Venter used genetic genealogy to confirm their identities. The identity of the the fourth victim, Rasmussen's child, still remains unknown.
2.Conviction of the Golden State Killer: The Golden State Killer spent decades undetected after an extended spree of terror in California resulted in over 106 victims in the 1970s and '80s. The elusive killer, also known as the Visalia Ransacker, East Area Rapist, and the Original Night Stalker, committed at least 13 murders, 60 home invasions, and 50 rapes.
In 2018, investigators arrested and charged Joseph James DeAngelo with 13 counts of murder. To find DeAngelo, investigators used the same techniques used to identify the Bear Brook killer to identify DeAngelo. Comparing online genealogy databases back to DNA collected from a crime scene of the Golden State Killer, they found a match. Once DeAngelo was identified, they took DNA from his personal items, like a discarded tissue and a swab of his car door handle, which were then matched to the samples associated with Golden State Killer crimes.
3.The kidnapping of Melissa Highsmith: In 1971, Melissa Highsmith's mother had just moved to the Fort Worth area and placed an ad in a newspaper looking for a babysitter. A woman was hired and picked Melissa up — only to never return again.
Fifty years went by, and few potential leads surfaced until 2022, when the Highsmith family decided to take DNA tests through the genealogy service 23andMe. In November 2022, results came back that linked Melissa's biological father to a granddaughter he never knew he had. Connecting the dots, the family realized the unknown granddaughter was likely Melissa's daughter. Melissa, who spent years going by Melanie, had no idea she was kidnapped, though she fled home at 15 after a strained relationship with the woman who raised her. Melissa has since reunited with her biological family and now uses the name given to her at birth.
4."Boy in the Box": In 1957, a young boy's severely beaten body was found inside a cardboard box in the woods in Philadelphia. Decades of efforts to find him went by, but the young victim remained unknown, giving him the name, "America's Unknown Child."
In 2019, a court granted investigators approval to exhume the boy's body for modern DNA analysis and genetic genealogy. Investigators were able to identify the boy's mother and father, and subsequently the boy, after a second cousin once removed uploaded DNA to a public database. In 2022, after 65 years, police officials officially identified the boy: Joseph Augustus Zarelli, born on Jan. 13, 1953. It still remains unknown who committed his murder.
5."Times Square Killer" linked to 1968 death: In 1968, Diane Cusick, a 23-year-old dance instructor had just left her last class of the night — only to never return home. What began as a trip to the mall to buy a pair of shoes ended in her tragic death. She was found dead in the back seat of her car raped, beaten, and strangled. For 54 years, the case was cold until a break in the case in 2022.
Richard Cottingham, who has been convicted of or admitted to at least 16 murders, was charged with Cusick's murder in 2022 after DNA evidence linked him to the crime. While DNA from Cusick's murder was tested before, more sophisticated testing allowed DNA collected from the crime scene to be matched to Cottingham in a federal database.
6.The Grim Sleeper: Between 1984 and 2007, the Grim Sleeper targeted and killed vulnerable Black women in southern Los Angeles. For over 30 years, the killer remained undetected, and was given the Grim Sleeper label for being supposedly inactive between murders in the '80s and murders in the 2000s that connected him through DNA evidence.
But in the late 2000s, a break in the case came after the Grim Sleeper's son had to provide a DNA sample after being arrested for carrying a weapon in 2008. Investigators determined there was a familial link to the DNA evidence from the cold case. In 2010, authorities arrested Lonnie D. Franklin Jr. after they were able to confirm Franklin's connection to the murder — a detective posed as a busboy and collected DNA from a partially eaten slice of pizza Franklin left behind. At the time, this was a first to use familial DNA to capture a murder suspect in the US. In 2016, Franklin was found guilty and convicted of 10 counts of first-degree murder, and one count of attempted murder. Franklin died in 2020, but it is believed there were more victims.
7."Lady of the Dunes": In the summer of 1974, a hiker found a decomposing corpse on a beach blanket in the dunes of Provincetown, Massachusetts. Police canvassed motels, reviewed missing person reports, and checked every authorized vehicle to drive on the dunes, but the case went cold and the labeled "Lady of the Dunes" became the oldest unidentified homicide victim in Massachusetts.
In 2018, Richard Hanchett set out to find the identity of his biological mother who put him up for adoption in 1958. He submitted his DNA to Ancestry.com and found his mother: Ruth Marie Terry of Tennessee. Unfortunately, he learned she had been reported missing decades ago.
In 2022, the FBI officially identified the Lady of the Dunes as Ruth Marie Terry through DNA testing. While her body was previously exhumed in 2000 to collect DNA, it wasn't until breakthroughs with genetic genealogy were they able to identify her. Hanchett, who set out on a quest to find his unknown bio mother four years earlier, subsequently submitted a DNA sample at the request of investigators, which confirmed that Ruth Marie Terry was his biological mother. It was later confirmed that the now deceased Guy Rockwell Muldavin, Terry's husband, was likely responsible for her death. Muldavin was also suspected of the deaths of his wife and stepdaughter in 1960.
8.The "I-65"/"Days Inn" Killer: Between 1987 and 1990, four women who worked at hotels alongside the I-65 Midwest highway between Indiana and Kentucky were brutally attacked, robbed, and sexually assaulted. While the fourth victim was able to escape, three of the victims, Vicki Heath, Margaret "Peggy" Gill, and Jeanne Gilbert, did not survive their attacks. For three decades, the serial killer evaded authorities and died undetected.
While police were able to connect patterns in the attacks, the fourth victim was able to give a composite sketch, and DNA evidence was able to link the cases together, it was not enough to track the killer down until recent developments in genetic technology. Like other cases discussed, investigators reached their breakthrough when genetic genealogy was used to match the attacker's DNA to ancestry records. In 2022, after 35 years of investigating, the killings and assault were linked to Harry Edward Greenwell. Greenwell died in 2013 at the age of 68 with an extensive criminal record, but other unsolved murders, rapes, and robberies are still being investigated with connection to him.
9.The Boston Strangler: The Boston Strangler, aka Albert DeSalvo, killed 13 women between 1962 and 1964 in the Boston area. DeSalvo confessed, but there was no physical evidence, so he was never convicted for the murders. He was instead tried on charges for earlier, unrelated crimes of robbery and sexual offenses. DeSalvo was imprisoned for life, but up until recently, his confession remained heavily debated.
In 2013, however, the Boston Police Department announced they had DNA evidence from the murder of Mary Sullivan that produced a "familial match" to DeSalvo. Investigators took a DNA sample from a water bottle belonging to DeSalvo's nephew and were able to compare to the 1964 semen sample through a test of male chromosomes passed from generation to generation, and found a match. DeSalvo's body was subsequently exhumed for a direct DNA sample, which proved to be an exact match.
10.Murders of Jay Cook and Tanya Van Cuylenborg: In November 1987, Jay Cook and Tanya Van Cuylenborg, a Canadian couple from British Columbia, left for Seattle to purchase parts for Cook's father's business. Unfortunately, they never returned and were found murdered. The case went cold for 30 years.
In 2015, a woman named Chelsea Rustad won a DNA "spit kit" from a contest. Little did she know her profile would help investigators solve the 1987 double murder of Cook and Van Cuylenborg. Because Rustad uploaded her DNA, investigators were able to connect that Rustad's DNA was genetically similar to the DNA samples collected from the crime scene. Using genetic genealogy, authorities connected Rustad's cousin, William Earl Talbott II, to the murders, whose DNA was a perfect match to that at the crime scene. Talbott was tried and convicted of the murders in 2019.
11.Finally, from 1974 to 1991, Dennis Rader, who gave himself the nickname BTK, murdered at least 10 people across Kansas. For years, BTK taunted police, media, and civilians with letters that left clues about his identity and described details of the crimes only the killer would know. But BTK seemingly disappeared, and the case went cold for another 13 years. That is until 2004, when he began sending cryptic letters once again, which eventually led to his identification and 2005 arrest.
In 2005, BTK communicated with the police to send a letter, and asked if they could trace him with a floppy disk. Police encouraged BTK to send one in, and when he did, investigators were able to find metadata on the disk that linked to a man named Dennis Rader. From there, police obtained DNA from Rader’s daughter, without her knowledge, which closely matched the DNA taken from a crime scene, and Rader was arrested. The BTK case was an early use of using familial DNA as a law enforcement tool. Today, Rader is serving life in prison, and is currently being investigated in more unsolved cases.
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