Louise was eventually arrested for the double homicide in 2022.[3]. By David Hodes May 18, 2022. FOUND: MELISSA HIGHSMITH'S FAMILY 'OVERJOYED' AFTER BEING REUNITED WITH SISTER ABDUCTED IN 1971. On March 25, 1975, Katherine and Sheila Lyon (aged 10 and 12 respectively) went missing while on a trip to the nearby mall. "I am mourning my beautiful daughter Brittanee as I have for the past 13 years. 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The nurse told a security guard, who relayed the information to Orlando police, who paid a visit to Cates in the hospital where they were able to obtain a confession on an officer's body cam. Jeff Highsmith, Melissas younger brother, said his family had undergone tests through genealogy service 23andMe and received the results on Nov. 22 showing there was a match with Melissas kids. It was January of 1980 when 21-year-old Helene Pruszynski was kidnapped, raped and murdered in Douglas County, Colorado. She told her family and friends that another soldier was sexually harassing her. In 2008, police were alerted to a potential match with the recently-obtained DNA profile of Brent Strutner, a local who had died by suicide in 1984 and who was among the original batch of suspects. The 1980 murder of Asenath Dukat was one that shook the Columbus, Ohio community for a simple reason. "Because it was all theories up to that point we finally had a match and we had a name. This time, it wasn't advances in DNA technology that helped crack the case, but in technology of a different sort: GPS. In 2009, Dawn and Chad Drexel lived every parent's worst nightmare. 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. The case was partially resolved in 2005 when Richard Kinlaw serving a 20 years-to-life sentence in prison for the murder of another woman confessed in writing to Princess Doe's murder. Most cold cases do not get solved, soit is still fairly a spectacular occurrence when one is. 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. The only way to prove his guilt or his innocence was to test the DNA of his remaining relatives. Murder of The Lyon Sisters. Even older cases, in one instance going back to the late 1950s, were cracked around the country through the use of novel investigative techniques. Her family believed that a man who worked in a liquor store near her apartment was responsible, but authorities never made an arrest. The Kalitzke/Bogle case is one of the oldest criminal cases that has been solved using forensic genealogy, and authorities are hopeful that they'll be able to use this ever-advancing technology to solve cold cases dating back even further although new state legislation restricting forensic genealogy could complicate matters. At first, the widow now claims, her husband lied to her about the victims whereabouts and said someone came and picked them up.. Nesson's family urged Reynoldsburg police to reexamine the cold case in August 2019. And they can know it's solved.". It's the oldest cold case solved in #MiramarPD history: Evelyn Marie Cold Cases In 2021, new technology led to the arrest of a man for a 1999 murder in New York City and the arrest of another suspect in a 1997 homicide in Michigan. In December 1975, 19-year-old Lindy Beichler was murdered in her Lancaster, Pennsylvania, apartment. In 1999, 13-year-old Minerliz Soriano was assaulted and killed on her way home from her New York City school, according to People. And it was not for lack of trying: Early on in the case, investigators followed numerous leads, but none of them panned out. Her killer, Eric Drummond, was a customer at her restaurant, and it's likely due to the lack of an obvious connection with Smith that it took police five years to even identify him as a suspect. That letter happened to contain information that only the killer would be privy to, and saliva on the envelope was matched to that found on Kane's clothing. Also known as investigative genetic genealogy, this relatively new practice involves finding criminals via companies that collect consumer DNA samples for genealogy purposes. NEW YORK TEEN BRITTANEE DREXEL SENT EERIE TEXTS TO BOYFRIEND BEFORE DISAPPEARANCE, DEATH: REPORT. Technology that would help solve the killing was nearly half a century away from development, Yost said. The police found four bodies in the usually tranquil park. Here are a dozen of the most stubbornly unresolved cold cases that were finally put to bed in 2022. The sheriff held a news conference . It was a bittersweet revelation: They were grateful for answers, but for many of the older people in the family, it was a struggle to have those wounds reopened. . These familial matches led police to David Sinopoli, one of Beichlers neighbors at the time. The case was solved this year, after police came to suspect John Reigh Hoff, who died of suicide in 1970 at the age of 31, of the crime. A blood sample found in Louises car back in October 1989 was tested for DNA. Sixteen-year-old Fawn Cox was killed in the bedroom of her home at 9 th and Van Brunt while the rest of the family slept on July 26, 1989. Investigators tracked every lead they could, but the case grew cold. "I hope that it gives her peace knowing that, even though it's not really justice because he doesn't get any punishment, but that his name has this on it now. 40 year old Kara Vaughn disappeared from Natchitoches, Louisiana on November 3, 1993. The case was revived in 2020 with new DNA technology and the help of Eric Schubert, an expert in genetic genealogy. Physical evidence was able to close the deal in 2022. She performed well in school, becoming an honors student during her academic career. 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]. It may take years or even decades, but we continually seek justice for victims and their families.". They were also connected to the kidnapping, assault and attempted murder of two other women in the northwest Ohio area. "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. Authorities traveled to Missouri, where they spoke with Gould's children and told them about the Kalitzke/Bogle case and eventually identified their father as a suspect, Kadner said. He was paroled in Texas and shot to death in Laredo in February 2012. hide caption. Four-year-old Sharon Lee Gallegos partially decomposed body was found over 500 miles from her New Mexico home July 31, 1960. Both men were freed in the early 1970s and are now connected to the deaths of Nesson and Adams. He called it "a reverse family tree. To date, this cold case is one of the oldest to be recently solved with DNA evidence.[2]. GREAT FALLS, Mont. According to the Fulton County Sheriffs Office in Arkansas, the mother and child were murdered in late 2002 or early 2003 before being placed in a furnace and burned away into nothing. Major Case/Unsolved Homicides - 2021 | mpdc Metropolitan Police Department A + A Listen Major Case/Unsolved Homicides - 2021 Click on any name below for details on a particular case and download the PDF flyer. The next day, Angela was briefly reunited with her son. (Jeff Highsmith). Despite the abundance of blood at the scene, none of the DNA could be conclusively linked to anyone other than the victim. Highsmith disappeared from Fort Worth, Texas, Aug. 23, 1971, when she was just 21 months old. Raymond Moody, 62, pleaded guilty Oct. 19, 2022, in Georgetown, South Carolina, to raping and killing 17-year-old Brittanee Drexel in 2009. Related: Top 10 Grim Cold Cases With Recent Twists And Turns. Both men are now dead. Now, the sheriff's office is considering forming a cold case task force, as other law enforcement agencies have done. 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. We're essentially going backwards. Scotland's most mysterious murder - is it about to be solved? On Feb. 25, 2021, more than 39 years after her death, police announced that they arrested 62-year-old David Dwayne Anderson in Nebraska. 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. This finally happened in 2022, when DNA information provided to public websites by members of the killer's family allowed authorities to focus on Scott Grim, a resident of the area who had never been charged with any crime. Throughout the years, more than 230 members of the Pennsylvania State Police worked on the case to no avail. March 30, 2021 April 22, 2021. .