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). CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. 'Help me find my children': How race affects social media efforts to find missing kids. 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. Police say there was a struggle at the scene, based on the evidence collected. Anna Kane, in an undated family photo. The difficulty lay in the fact that not only was the available DNA evidence too weak to pinpoint a suspect, but, at the time, the victim herself was also unidentified. The serial murderer known as the "Torso Killer" admitted to killing a 23-year-old woman outside a Long Island shopping mall in 1968 and four other women decades ago. When Diane Lynn Dahn missed her shift at the San Diego Transit Corporation on May 2, 1988, a coworker went to her apartment to check on her. Both were signed "Jane Doe," and despite their best efforts, police were unable to identify the woman who would become known as the "Christmas tree lady" (via DC News Now). Forte would have been 22 at the time of the crime. When 53-year-old John Stagner was beaten to death in his bed in Orlando, Florida, in 1992, police honed in on a suspect almost immediately, according to Fox 35 Orlando: Ronald Cates, a friend of Stagner's who happened to be a drug addict. A local newspaper, the Reading Eagle, ran a front-page story seeking information on Kanes death. 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. Las Vegas police Lt. Ray Spencer announced Monday that advanced DNA testing helped investigators solve the cold case homicide of 16-year-old Kim Bryant. No one knew what had become of her. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Published Beyer said he was "blown away" when he heard how his mother's case had. Blood pooled around his misshapen head, with his neck and head sustaining multiple injuries. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Her cause of death was stab wounds to the chest and her death was ruled a homicide, investigators said. She met with a group of Jesus People to retrieve the car and ask about her son, but says they told her he'd joined their group and was cutting off ties. She was a firecracker very outgoing, not afraid of anything, very honest, blunt and caring, she said. FOUND: MELISSA HIGHSMITH'S FAMILY 'OVERJOYED' AFTER BEING REUNITED WITH SISTER ABDUCTED IN 1971. That detail was a small mole on Geddes' right ear, which was enough for police to make a tenuous connection to Geddes. On May 11, 2022, the remains of Brittanee Drexel were found in South Carolina. Greg Harder of the Elkhart County Police noticed a possible piece of DNA evidence that was missed. On October 11, 2022, Marilyn Mosby announced that all charges had been dropped against Syed due to advanced DNA testing on Lee's clothing. Traditionally, investigators will take DNA from a crime scene and compare it to a suspects DNA or they enter the crime scene DNA into a national database, also known as CODIS, to see if theres a match with a known criminal offender. Like how you go from what little information you have to building a case like that was truly impressive, he said. A photo of 20-year old Eve Wilkowitz from Project: Cold Case. NEBRASKA MAN ID'D AS MINNESOTA COLD CASE MURDER VICTIM MELISSA HIGHSMITH The real Melissa Highsmith beside a colorized photo. She also plans to remarry her current husband so her father can walk her down the aisle. The first case is of Roxanne Leigh Wood from 1987, which was solved in March 2022, after. Over 4,000 pages of information have been compiled in this case over the years. The 25-year-old was stabbed over 40 times with her infant son in the room. She also enjoyed playing the organ. 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. I was happy to finally put a face behind the monster who took her from us, (and) upset that he will never be able to face consequences.. Detective Lt. Jason Moran, Cook County Sheriff's Office, Special Victims/Forensic Services Unit. Highsmith disappeared from Fort Worth, Texas, Aug. 23, 1971, when she was just 21 months old. The night of July 19, the couple had a fight and William DeRoos went for a walk to get some air. What is everyone talking about? Her father, Jeffrie Highsmith, submitted his DNA to the website, and he was matched to Melissa's three children as their grandfather. It started as a hobby. The murder of 33-year-old Santa Cruz, California, restaurant owner Joette Smith was precipitated by what should have been an innocuous circumstance. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children described how Sharon was with cousins playing behind her grandmothers home in Alamogordo, New Mexico, July 21, 1960, when she was kidnapped. After being known as Melanie, she plans to change her name to Melissa. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Jon Kadner sent DNA swabs from Kalitzkes sexual assault to forensic genealogists at Bode Technology. The circumstances around what led up to her death remain a mystery, 34 years later -- but DNA evidence points to her killer. "We determine if someone is missing and if someone is missing with a vehicle. REMAINS OF LITTLE MISS NOBODY IDD AS NEW MEXICO GIRL, 4, ABDUCTED IN 1960 AND FOUND IN ARIZONA DESERT. Pennsylvania state police was founded in 1905, so over half of our existence weve investigated this case, said Pennsylvania State Police Lieutenant Devon Brutosky during Thursdays news conference. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Proud "Mommy" to Crocker and Phi Phi. They declined to elaborate how they obtained his DNA when hes been dead for four years. Melissa said she had a troubled childhood: "I didn't feel loved as a child. Through that, police were able the get their first genealogical match: a very distant relative, possibly a 6th cousin, according to Brutosky. A technician prepares a test solution for processing DNA samples at a Genesis Healthcare Co. laboratory in Tokyo, Japan, on Wednesday, July 4, 2018. While his identity was a major break in the case, police are still working to determine who killed Joseph and why. or redistributed. Discovery Company. Many questions still remain about the case, but Holly has reportedly been in contact with her newfound family members. The crime scene outside of the apartment complex where both Robertson and Dahn lived on May 2, 1988. Applying Modern Investigation Methods to Solve Cold Cases. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg via Getty Images. The Serial podcast, HBO series, and other court hearings and investigations over the years had brought up, among other issues, questions about Syed's lawyer, who was disbarred in 2001, the lack of DNA evidence pointing to Syed at the murder scene, and the reliability of a witness. Syed was sentenced to life in prison in 2000 but has maintained his innocence all along. The case gained national attention, even serving as the basis of an HBO special in 1983; justice, though, was a long time in coming. It did. In 1971, Melissa Highsmith was 22 months old when a babysitter kidnapped her in Fort Worth, TX. 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. In Alabama: A college student disappeared in 1976. (Jeff Highsmith). Syed had been convicted of murdering his high school ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, in 1999. Chahorski was likewise identified through the DNA of living relatives, finally putting a lid on a case that had stumped investigators for 34 years. Detectives began watching Sinopoli, and before he boarded a flight at Philly International Airport, they collected a discarded coffee cup that provided the DNA sample they needed to nail him. Reyes said one of her fondest childhood memories was taking walks with her mother and seeing her suddenly dance to random music playing in stores as they passed. A Warner Bros. Using data from Brittanee's cell phone, authorities were finally able to pinpoint the location of Brittanee's disappearance more effectively than in previous attempts, which led to the discovery of a surveillance video implicating Moody in the crime, as reported by Democrat & Chronicle. In 1978, he was arrested for recklessly endangering and harassment, police said. But in a Tuesday news conference, the Burlington Police Department announced that Curran's case was solved and the man responsible for the 24-year-old's murder, William DeRoos, died years ago. Hepting said in an interview with Burlington police that DeRoos once stabbed a woman in front of Hepting, and later said he thought he stabbed Hepting. A Warner Bros. Police determined that Mr. Smith had indeed lived in the area at the time and had, in fact, been arrested for but never convicted of sexual assault and attempted murder in Las Vegas in 1998. But while while investigators had Grims DNA profile, there was nothing to identify him because he had never been arrested for anything that required his DNA to be put into the system, authorities said. The woman took her fromher home in Fort Worth, Texas, in August 1971. She was eventually dubbed the El Dorado Jane Doe.. 2. 2023 Cable News Network. Highsmith disappeared from Fort Worth, Texas, Aug. 23, 1971, when she was just 21 months old. We live in an era of incredible technology: cars, computers, and even robots. Here is a look at some of the top cold cases solved in 2022. A Warner Bros. [10], 1980s cold case murders solved, O.C. Colorado police solve four decades-old homicide cold cases with DNA from exhumed killer Vianne Falcon, Falcon-Dewey's mother, told CNN affiliate KING on Wednesday that she was emotionally. According to CNN, police were bereft of leads despite the local newspaper running a front-page story seeking information from the public until 15 months later, when a mysterious letter from a "concerned citizen" appeared on the editor's desk. ", An image of "Little Miss Nobody," a girl discovered in a remote Arizona desert more than 60 years ago. The letter writer also left his DNA when he licked the envelope. According to local news station WFAA, federal kidnapping charges, which have no statute of limitations, could still be filed, but only if certain criteria are met, such as the kidnapper crossing state lines or using mail to conduct the kidnapping. Nadine Madger was a Willoughby, Ohio, woman who was found murdered in January 1980. 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The coroner determined her manner of death to be strangulation. Raymond Moody, now 62, pleaded guilty during an Oct. 19, 2022, hearing in Georgetown, South Carolina. when he met his second wife, Sarah Hepting. "When I looked at her, I just knew. 5 Decades-Old Cold Cases Finally Solved Twenty-three-year-old Tonya McKinley had gone to Darryl's Bar & Grille in Pensacola, Florida, to celebrate the upcoming new year of 1985 but never returned home to her 18-month-old son. these two cold cases were finally solved after decades in 2022, thanks to genetic genealogy and witnesses coming forward. 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. A Danby, Vermont couple, George and Catherine Peacock, were murdered in September 1989. FOLEY, Ala. ( WALA) - Twenty-two years ago, a man's body was pulled from Styx River in . Over 230. 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. From Ted Bundy to Jack the Ripper,new DNA technology is solving murder mysteries, finding serial killers, and exonerating innocents. Her siblings on Thursday described her as a quiet, sweet girl that had aspirations of becoming a nun. "Boy in the Box" identified as 4-year-old Joseph Augustus Zarelli. until you are in jail. DNA genealogy was used to compare the sample to public databases to find familial matches. 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. State police worked tirelessly over the years but were unable to identify her killer until now. I worked the streets.". These two cases were investigated separately until 2003, when the national DNA database CODIS revealed that samples from both crimes matched the same man. These familial matches led police to David Sinopoli, one of Beichlers neighbors at the time. The case was revived in 2021 when Sgt. Melissa, who had been living in Fort Worth the whole time, met her parents for the first time on November 26 at age 53. In January 1981, the remains of a man and a woman were found murdered in woods outside of Houston, TX. A DNA sample taken at the time of that arrest was eventually used to connect him to the Lloyd and Cuevas slayings. While not all breaks have led to arrests just yet, police have been able to use modern DNA forensics technology and genetic genealogy to link evidence from crime scenes to a certain person or group. Moody had been a suspect since 2012, but it was not immediately made public what evidence led to his arrest. 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. Warren Robertson was Diane Lynn Dahn's neighbor inside the same apartment complex in San Diego, California in 1988. "The FBI and our partners will not give up. Now that they have identified Grims DNA, police will review other open cold cases to see if he was involved, Womer said. In April 1982, U.S.. Wise died in a car crash in 1999, but that fact did nothing to diminish the power of the statement given by the FBI's Atlanta office in the wake of the resolution of the case. officials say In May 1987, 23-year-old Shannon Lloyd of Orange County, California, was murdered in her apartment. But, after 52 years, Curran's family finally has closure. Dna, police will review other open cold cases were finally solved after decades in 2022, after years... 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