Richard Cottingham makes a remote appearance in a courtroom in Mineola, N.Y., Dec. 5, 2022. 8. hide caption. As it happened, around this same time, Cates was in the hospital in North Carolina, and as Florida detectives were shoring up their case, Cates blurted out to a nurse that he had killed someone in Florida decades prior. 5 Cases We Believe Will Be Solved in 2021 - CrimeCon Another missing persons case that was solved in 2021 is that of Kara Vaughn who disappeared more than 25 years ago. Somewhat mysteriously, she was in California at the time. "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. 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. From there unraveled the solution to cold cases spanning decades-and the identity of a serial killer. Hall's daughter, happy to finally have closure, had a message for those facing the unsolved murder of a loved one: "Please don't give up. 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. The U.S. currently has 250,000 unsolved murders, a number that increases by about 6,000 each year, according to the FBI's Uniformed Crime Report data. dec 23, 2021. alleged serial rapist arrested after online dna match to 1997 case. I knew," Jeff Highsmith said. 0. 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. They were previously linked to one other death and two kidnappings, Yost said. Clarence and Barbara Krusen got to know Angela and Mikey pretty well during this time period, however, and the three adults came to an ultimately abortive adoption agreement. At a cemetery in Annandale, Virginia (pictured), the body of a middle-aged woman was found. Nadine Madger was a Willoughby, Ohio, woman who was found murdered in January 1980. 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. Scientists were able to use the unknown DNA to find potential matches in public databases and create a reverse family tree. This method eventually led to a man named Kenneth Gould, who unfortunately passed away in 2007. Due to a lack of physical evidence, however, this unknown man was acquitted of the crime. 20 of the most famous cold cases of all time - Reader's Digest Australia It is unclear how Love actually came into contact with Reed; regardless, Love was arrested for the murder of Robert Reed in 2022 based on the DNA evidence.[5]. 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. Cottingham was known to approach his victims in mall parking lots and accuse them of stealing while imitating a security guard. Unfortunately for criminals and murderers, this means its much easier to get caught, especially for those who committed crimes before DNA testing. The file for an unsolved homicide dating from 2007 is pulled from a file . Previously wed to Tommy Retew, who filed the first missing persons report, Angela and her freshly-minted husband James Coxwere in a disastrous and trebly fatal car crash just weeks after tying the knot. DNA had been found on Smiths clothing at the time of her murder, but it was only recently that new advances in technology allowed the sample to be tested and matched. In her pockets were two notes and some cash; one note clarified to police that the death had been a suicide, and the other directed them to use the cash for funeral expenses. 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. "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. Unfortunately, Simcak will never be tried for the death of Madger, as he died in 2018.[9]. It's the oldest cold case solved in #MiramarPD history: Evelyn Marie Cold Cases Decades after the fact, family members of Hank Wise, a trucker with an extensive criminal history spanning three states, came forward to provide DNA that would be matched to evidence found at the scene. The case gained national attention, even serving as the basis of an HBO special in 1983; justice, though, was a long time in coming. Murder case solved after 42 years using DNA testing - KLAS 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. Here are a dozen of the most stubbornly unresolved cold cases that were finally put to bed in 2022. The serial killer committed at least 12 murders and 120 residential burglariesthen he disappeared without a trace. He spent 10 years in the Ohio Penitentiary, where he met Weber, a fellow inmate. Despite the abundance of blood at the scene, none of the DNA could be conclusively linked to anyone other than the victim. As with many such cases, the DNA evidence taken from Smith's body was insufficient to pin the crime on Drummond in the '80s, and although there was significant circumstantial evidence of his involvement, he walked free for nearly four decades. By Jill Sederstrom But the memory of Lori Nesson will carry on through her family and friends.. She took that crucial test at the dogged insistence of Weaver, who reopened the case last summer. The woman took her fromher home in Fort Worth, Texas, in August 1971. "Families deserve answers, even. 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. In 1971, the body of 17-year-old Maureen Brubaker Farley was found in a wooded area in Iowa (via Des Moines Register). . Through further testing and genealogical research, the blood on Madgers clothing was identified as matching the DNA of one Stephen Simcak. 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. Police said Josephs parents have since died, and no one claimed the child or reported him missing at the time his remains were discovered. Of those suspects, one in 20 will be arrested, and just one in those 100 charged will be convicted. In 2022, NoVA Police Solved Multiple Murders Stretching Back to 1987 The young mother and dance instructors own father discovered her remains brutally beaten, duct taped and sexually assaulted in her vehicle parked outside the mall. 2 min. "Give them some closure.". Also in 2020, 10TV in Columbus ran a story on Nesson's case. 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. Highsmith disappeared from Fort Worth, Texas, Aug. 23, 1971, when she was just 21 months old. Jul 02, 2021 at 2:30 pm A dead blond boy found fully dressed and wrapped in a blanket more than 50 years ago has been an identified through genetic genealogy, bringing an end to one Oregon's . The test results said Gould was the guy. For 31 years, Kurt Wuest has been solving Lane County crimes. In announcing his identity, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said Joseph had "experienced horrors that no one, no one should ever be subjected to. 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. The family did not see Melissa for decades until November. A Danby, Vermont couple, George and Catherine Peacock, were murdered in September 1989. A double homicide of two teens in Montana has been solved after more than 60 years thanks to forensic genealogy. Cold Case Murder of Krystal Beslanowitch, 1995 : Solved through forensic technologies. playlist_add. Uncovered: Recent Unsolved Murders 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. Her killer was the last person the family would have . While the identification of Kane's killer provided a measure of closure to her daughter, Reyes was understandably disappointed that Grim had eluded justice by way of dying. After being interviewed by troopers in his Arkansas home in early August 2020, Branch died by suicide. During Kalitzke's autopsy in 1956, coroners had taken a vaginal swab, which had been preserved on a microscopic slide in the years since, according to the Great Falls Tribune report. "The FBI and our partners will not give up. The next day brought another disturbing discovery: A county road worker found 16-year-old Patricia Kalitzke's body in an area north of Great Falls, the paper reports. ". Raymond Moody, 62, pleaded guilty Oct. 19, 2022, in Georgetown, South Carolina, to raping and killing 17-year-old Brittanee Drexel in 2009. On Good Friday of this year, Krusen took and failed a polygraph when asked about what happened to Angela and Mikey. The Krusens would raise Mikey as their own. 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]. They Were the Work of One Man. The wayward mother met Barbara at a bus station in Springfield, Missouri. Detectives had an uncomfortable task ahead of them: letting a dead man's family know that, despite the fact that he'd never previously been identified as a person of interest, he was now the key suspect in a double homicide and rape. 10 Cold Cases Solved - Forensics Colleges That is, until 2019, when Detective Sgt. SALT LAKE CITY Salt Lake City Police have solved a 42-year-old cold case. 14 Creepy Missing Persons Cases That Were Eventually Solved Fortunately, the profession seems to attract those who have this quality, as proven by the many decades-old cases which finally see their resolutions every single year. He knew Dale but did not know Clarence very well, according to Fulton County, Ark. "The babysitter called the mother later, saying she really wanted the job, had a nice big yard and cared for other children as well.". The case would remain cold for 45 years. The case was revived in 2021 when Sgt. 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. Unfortunately, all the evidence against him was circumstantial, and without enough to connect Louise to the murder, the case went cold. Cusicks parents reported her missing after the 23-year-old woman never returned home from a trip to the Green Acres Mall. January 07, 2021: Ryan Mitchell McCormack: Missing Persons : White : 5'10" 185 : M : May 26, 2020: Keeslyn Noelle Roberts: Missing Persons . April 20, 2021 Cold Cases | News Releases Cynthia Hernandez, a young and reserved 18-year-old living in Glendora, had her whole life ahead of her when she suddenly went missing from a movie theater parking lot. These familial matches led police to David Sinopoli, one of Beichlers neighbors at the time. Cold Case Solved: Widow Says Her Late Husband Killed and Incinerated DNA technology was credited with cracking the case. That detail was a small mole on Geddes' right ear, which was enough for police to make a tenuous connection to Geddes. Both men are now dead. Murder of The Lyon Sisters. Market data provided by Factset. Special Report: Killing of Eugene teens solved 44 years later Cold case solved: Salina teen identified as Pecos Jane Doe - KSN-TV Going over the old case files, they zeroed in on Larry David Smith, who had been interviewed in connection with the slaying in 1973 but was never seriously considered a suspect. She wanted to come home. Meyer admitted to prosecutors he had killed Adams. Updated: Jul 27, 2021 / 08:28 PM CDT. Nothing, that is, until 2018, when an amateur cold case enthusiast came forward with one tiny detail after police reopened the case. We're essentially going backwards. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. The team's years of digging uncovered new forensic evidence and photos from . [emailprotected]. The boyfriend was . Raymond Moody, 62, pleaded guilty Oct. 19, 2022, in Georgetown, South Carolina, to raping and killing 17-year-old Brittanee Drexel in 2009. Unsolved cases mean mounting caseloads,. 13 True Crime Cases That Were Solved In 2022 While he was in prison in 2012, Meyer admitted to prosecutors he had killed Adams, 10TV reported. She died of a gunshot wound to the head. Their trip took an immediate turn towards bad when Jeremy was arrested for being in possession of a stolen vehicle. The subsequent investigation led Santa Cruz County police to a man named Eric Drummond, who had reportedly previously asked Smith on a date and was declined. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. The search for Melissa Highsmith had a rare happy ending. 25, 2022 at 9:15 PM PDT FOLEY, Ala. ( WALA) - Twenty-two years ago, a man's body was pulled from Styx River in. 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. March 30, 2021 April 22, 2021. . Investigators have solved a 28-year cold case and a Texas man is in custody. She performed well in school, becoming an honors student during her academic career. Baldwin County cold case solved after 22 years By Hal Scheurich Published: Apr. It was January of 1980 when 21-year-old Helene Pruszynski was kidnapped, raped and murdered in Douglas County, Colorado. Georgette Banks - May 9, 2021; 2600 block of Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue, SE James Beckham - August 7, 2021; 200 block of 49th Street, SE Legal Statement. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Emailus. Scott Coffer, with the Union County Sheriff's Office. Her body was found on the west side of Reynoldsburg the next day. Even older cases, in one instance going back to the late 1950s, were cracked around the country through the use of novel investigative techniques. . 2021 wishlist for closed/solved cases : r/UnresolvedMysteries - reddit Hoff's daughter provided a DNA sample for police, which helped investigators match semen found at the scene to her father. She had been shot in the head, just as Bogle had been, but she had also been sexually assaulted. Audio, . With each breakthrough, investigators have gotten one step closer to finding answers and, in turn, a resolution. Prisoner with a conscience helped St. Louis' cold-case unit cross one off the list. Barbara stated that it angered both her and Clarence and she told Angela she needed to come back and pick up Mikey [and] that she didnt want to just be a babysitter. "Based on sperm recovered from the body of Kim Bryant at autopsy revealed that Johnny Blake Peterson was the person who kidnapped, sexually assaulted and murdered Kim Bryant," Lt. Ray Spencer, LVMPD said. In addition to providing closure for the families and friends of the victims, every closed cold case serves another important purpose: Letting those who commit murder know that homicide investigators are the Terminators of law enforcement, and that (to paraphrase Kyle Reese) they will not stop EVER! In 1979, Sandra Matott disappeared without a trace, leaving behind several children, including her son Darrell Haymes.. He was identified as a suspect five years after Smith was found, but with no physical evidence to tie him to the murder, he was never arrested. Authorities arrested 58-year-old . There are cold cases, and then there is the murder of James Tappen Hall, a Montgomery County (Maryland) Sheriff's deputy who was moonlighting as a security guard at a local country club when he was shot in the club's parking lot in October 1971. In 2017, the sheriff's office reopened its investigation, and in early 2021, the Texas Rangers Unsolved Crimes . Blood pooled around his misshapen head, with his neck and head sustaining multiple injuries. 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. In this case, it appears justice will indeed be served; as of this writing, Sinopoli is being held without bail, awaiting trial for Biechler's murder. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. However, using DNA from Goulds surviving relatives, police were able to determine with certainty that he was responsible for the double homicide and sexual assault of Lloyd and Kalitzke. Market data provided by Factset. True Crime Cold Cases That Had Updates In 2022 - Ranker She stated while Angela was in Chowchilla California, she was working at a Burger King and she told Clarence that she had a change of heart, and did not want to go through with the adoption. Meyer was convicted of murder in 1963. Jeremy was looking for some cattle work. Louise was eventually arrested for the double homicide in 2022.[3]. Cold case solved: Texas man arrested in connection to teen's - KWTX Homicide Cold Case Stephanie Isaacson solved news conference Watch on Detectives sent the scant DNA evidence they had left to Othram, where forensic scientists spent the next seven months. Even the farmhouse furnace used to remove their bodies from the earth along with all evidence of the crime is no longer available. The 76- and 73-year-olds were found stabbed to death in their home, which showed no signs of forced entry. The case of the young woman known as "Princess Doe" is just a bit unusual in that the man responsible for the crime was identified by police long before the victim was. The case was revived in 2020 with new DNA technology and the help of Eric Schubert, an expert in genetic genealogy. Still, he hopes that it can be used to help law enforcement improve public safety and "[prevent] tomorrow's victim.". Before moving to Missouri in 1967, Gould had lived with his wife and children in the Great Falls area around the time of the murders, according to the Tribune. But with new technology, including advances in genetic identification, breakthroughs do occur. 65-year-old cold case of two murdered teens solved using forensic genealogy He was immediately met with the daunting task of digitizing the expansive case file, an endeavor that took months. Using DNA from living relatives, the little girl was finally identified as Sharon Lee Gallegos, a 4-year-old who was abducted from her grandmother's home in Alamagordo, New Mexico 500 miles from where her body had been discovered in July 1960. Her body was located more than 13 years later, in May of this year, about 35 miles from where she disappeared, officials have said. Refresh the page, check. In the summer of 1960, the body of a young girl was found near a highway in Yavapai Country, Arizona. She stated that an attorney had drawn up the paper and she and Clarence signed them, and Clarence took Angela to the attorneys office and got her signature on the papers prior to her leaving for California. Kim Bell. Like so many other cold cases, the eventual identification of the killer hinged on one thing: The collection of DNA evidence at the scene of the murder, and its careful preservation.