DNA Solves Cold Cases/Parabon Nanolabs & GED/Match.

[Niner]

Cold case investigations: Technology, social media turn the solve rate

Mar 7, 2020

Having spent decades hunting down the Oakland County Child Killer, Cory Williams was too curious to resist the long shot.

The retired Livonia detective ran pertinent DNA information from hair samples connecting the first and fourth victims, Mark Stebbins and Timothy King, through a genealogy database.

He was looking for people related to the hair originator. And lo! Did he find possibilities!
[.....]
Technologies and tools for cold case investigations have come a long way since the early 1980s, when missing Etan Patz’s face appeared on milk cartons throughout the nation. He was one of the first missing children to make such an appearance.

Since then, the Internet has become a quick go-to resource. Daily routines have incorporated cell phone and camera use.
[.....]
Nowadays, forensic experts can help prosecutors connect pieces of their case because of the latest DNA, camera and phone technologies.

That will be the case later this year, when prosecutors take Floyd Galloway Jr., 33, of Berkley, to trial for the murder of Danielle Stislicki, 28, of Farmington Hills.

During a preliminary exam, prosecutors presented evidence indicating that Galloway malevolently waited for Stislicki in a parking lot outside the MetLife offices where she worked in Southfield.

Stislicki hasn’t been seen since, and Galloway is in prison for assault, kidnapping and criminal sexual conduct because of a 2016 Hines Park attack.

Yet experts have said her DNA appeared in Galloway’s master bedroom carpeting, and technology placed their cell phones near each other the day she seems to have died.

Danielle's thread:
Still Missing - MI - Danielle Stislicki, 28, Southfield, 2 Dec 2016 #15 *ARREST*

Galloway's trial starts 4/20/20.

 

[Falcon500]

Justice served. You can now Rest In Peace Mr. Essel.

I can add a bit to this case. I was the first detective on the scene as it was a Sunday evening and the county had just two detectives working. It was a very rural area with only one house within view of the store. Eventually the case was assigned to someone else but I always had an interest.

Fast forward 28 years and I found out that they had a familial hit the department has a great genealogical guy who works part time in Cold Case. Just one of his claims to fame was solving the East Coast Rapist case. So it turned out that he worked nearly a year on this case in addition to his other daily duties.

 

[Owutatangledweb]

I can add a bit to this case. I was the first detective on the scene as it was a Sunday evening and the county had just two detectives working. It was a very rural area with only one house within view of the store. Eventually the case was assigned to someone else but I always had an interest.

Fast forward 28 years and I found out that they had a familial hit the department has a great genealogical guy who works part time in Cold Case. Just one of his claims to fame was solving the East Coast Rapist case. So it turned out that he worked nearly a year on this case in addition to his other daily duties.

Excellent work!!! So comforting knowing that many LE do not give up.

 

[Legally Bland]

I think this may be one. It's not Parabon, but Ohio LE used the same company which used genetic genealogy to ID the baby boy found in a car in Toledo last month (AdvanceDNA).

Daniel L. Rees, 57, faces a charge of aggravated murder in the death of Rachel Johnson in 1991:

ARREST Made in 1991 Brutal Rape, Murder of Rachel Johnson, 24, Akron, OH, Summit County

 

[PaulaDC]

I think this may be one. It's not Parabon, but Ohio LE used the same company which used genetic genealogy to ID the baby boy found in a car in Toledo last month (AdvanceDNA).

Daniel L. Rees, 57, faces a charge of aggravated murder in the death of Rachel Johnson in 1991:

ARREST Made in 1991 Brutal Rape, Murder of Rachel Johnson, 24, Akron, OH, Summit County

Piece of garbage!

 

[Legally Bland]

I think this may be one. It's not Parabon, but Ohio LE used the same company which used genetic genealogy to ID the baby boy found in a car in Toledo last month (AdvanceDNA).

Daniel L. Rees, 57, faces a charge of aggravated murder in the death of Rachel Johnson in 1991:

ARREST Made in 1991 Brutal Rape, Murder of Rachel Johnson, 24, Akron, OH, Summit County

This has been confirmed as an IGG case, there's also a second, older thread:

Oh, Akron - Rachael Johnson, 24, killed March 29, 1991. Unsolved.

 

[watcher9]

Parabon and a discarded cigarette got him - 35 yrs later!

Tonya Ethridge McKinley was 23 years old and had an 18-month-old son waiting for her at home when she was killed in the early-morning hours of Jan. 1, 1985, in Pensacola...
On Wednesday, 35 years later, Pensacola police made an arrest in the case: Daniel Leonard Wells, 57, is facing charges of first-degree murder and first-degree sexual battery.
Wells was identified after Parabon NanoLabs...

Pensacola police make arrest in 35-year-old cold case murder using familial DNA

 

[watcher9]

Fascinating case airing tomorrow night. Talk about more to the story.. Mind boggling.
Watch the full story on "20/20" FRIDAY at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.

The article talks about a man who pleaded guilty to a murder case, maybe hoping all investigation into him would stop and a California LE captain who decided to look further into his life. Later, a research librarian became obsessed looking into the Bear Brook case in NH, unbeknownst to another investigation. It is a true story of how the new DNA forensics and genealogy would uncover aliases and victims across many states.

How missing child case uncovered a serial killer, changed DNA forensics use forever

Here is a WIKI link on him.

'Terrence "Terry" Peder Rasmussen (December 23, 1943 – December 28, 2010), also known as "The Chameleon Killer", or "Bob Evans", was an American serial killer, known for using numerous aliases in a crime spree that spanned decades across many states.'
Terry Peder Rasmussen - Wikipedia

Reading the above posted article, I remembered seeing another WS thread about Bear Creek victims, but couldn't find it. There may be more WS threads covering the different victims. I had not kept up with this serial killer, but here is the WS link on him.

NH - NH/CA - Terry Peder Rasmussen, suspected SK, Allenstown, 1981-2000's - #3

ETA Just thought this may not come on as scheduled due to the present virus circumstances.

 

[Vern]

Fascinating case airing tomorrow night. RSBM ...

Reading the above posted article, I remembered seeing another WS thread about Bear Creek victims, but couldn't find it. There may be more WS threads covering the different victims. I had not kept up with this serial killer, but here is the WS link on him.

NH - NH/CA - Terry Peder Rasmussen, suspected SK, Allenstown, 1981-2000's - #3

ETA Just thought this may not come on as scheduled due to the present virus circumstances.

Here's the other Websleuths links relating to Rasmussen:

Terry Peder Rasmussen: Media, Timelines, Photos *NO-DISCUSSION*

NH - NH - Allenstown, Adult Female & 3 Children, found Nov'85 & May'00 #2

An amateur sleuth helped authorities confirm the identities of the New Hampshire murder victims

Thread for Denise Beaudin who was last known to be with him:

NH - NH - Denise Beaudin, 23, Manchester, 26 Nov 1981

And the victim he was convicted of murdering:

CA - CA - Eunsoon Jun, Murdered by Suspected SK, Richmond, 2002

 

[Niner]

Parabon and a discarded cigarette got him - 35 yrs later!

Tonya Ethridge McKinley was 23 years old and had an 18-month-old son waiting for her at home when she was killed in the early-morning hours of Jan. 1, 1985, in Pensacola...
On Wednesday, 35 years later, Pensacola police made an arrest in the case: Daniel Leonard Wells, 57, is facing charges of first-degree murder and first-degree sexual battery.
Wells was identified after Parabon NanoLabs...

Pensacola police make arrest in 35-year-old cold case murder using familial DNA

I started a thread for Tonya

FL - Tonya Ethridge McKinley, 23, missing Jan. 1, 1985

 

[Butterfly_Rises]

Anyone have link to press conference allegedly aired today?

 

[watcher9]

Here's the other Websleuths links relating to Rasmussen:

Terry Peder Rasmussen: Media, Timelines, Photos *NO-DISCUSSION*

NH - NH - Allenstown, Adult Female & 3 Children, found Nov'85 & May'00 #2

An amateur sleuth helped authorities confirm the identities of the New Hampshire murder victims

Thread for Denise Beaudin who was last known to be with him:

NH - NH - Denise Beaudin, 23, Manchester, 26 Nov 1981

And the victim he was convicted of murdering:

CA - CA - Eunsoon Jun, Murdered by Suspected SK, Richmond, 2002

Thanks for posting links to these threads.
The thread I couldn't find had the state and the word BEAR and then the date, etc in its title. Every time I saw it, I would think it was a "bear" attack. May not have had anything to do with this case though. I just don't know.

 

[Legally Bland]

Anyone have link to press conference allegedly aired today?

I haven't found it, but they've released the phone call of LE informing Tonya's son.

This is emotional.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=2665723746990574

I'll pop it on Tonya's thread too.

 

[watcher9]

Thanks for posting links to these threads.
The thread I couldn't find had the state and the word BEAR and then the date, etc in its title. Every time I saw it, I would think it was a "bear" attack. May not have had anything to do with this case though. I just don't know.

I finally found it! The "Bear" was for a town in Delaware. Probably not connected to the Rasmussen case.
For anyone curious, here's the link to the "BEAR" thread.

DE - DE - Bear, WhtFem UP7097, 16-25, pregnant, in laundry bag, Mar'67

 

[dotr]

New, started thread..
NY - Linda Tschari, 19, Buffalo,NY, found butchered in her bed, 8 Feb.1978 *DNA arrest*

 

[Legally Bland]

Spokane police say they have identified a man who raped and murdered a 12-year-old girl nearly 35 years ago, marking the first time a local cold case has been solved through the use of genetic genealogy.

Marsi Leah Belecz ran away from her home in the East Central Neighborhood on the night of Aug. 3, 1985, and her mutilated body was discovered two days later in a nearby towing yard. The medical examiner counted 29 stab wounds on her chest and two on her head. Her throat also had been cut.

Despite hundreds of interviews and other exhaustive police work, Marsi’s killer went unnamed for decades.

On Wednesday, police announced they have matched a DNA sample taken from Marsi’s body to Clayton Carl Giese, a Montana native with a limited criminal record who was 22 at the time of the killing.

Giese will not be arrested, however. He died in January 1989 – fewer than three years after the murder – after failing to navigate a curve and rolling his car off Appleway Boulevard near Interstate 90.

Spokane police say genetic sleuthing solved 1985 murder of 12-year-old girl

Thread:

WA - WA - Marsi Belecz, 12, Spokane, 5 Aug 1985

 

[Legally Bland]

Not sure if this is IGG or maybe a hit in Codis etc.:

More than a year after a baby’s body was discovered in a cooler on the side of a Georgia road, investigators think they have identified the child’s mother.

The break in the investigation came earlier this week after authorities in Troup County got a match on the child’s DNA through genetic testing, Troup sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Stewart Smith said.

Caroline Riley Propes, 19, of Newnan, was arrested Thursday on a charge of second-degree murder in connection with the case. According to investigators, DNA evidence showed she is the biological mother of the newborn baby found Jan. 6, 2019, in a remote area of the western Georgia county.

Teen arrested a year after baby’s body found in cooler on Georgia road​

Thread:

GA - Newborn, found dead in cooler on side of road, Troup County, 6 Jan 2019

 

[Legally Bland]

With the help of a DNA database, the Clearfield Police Department arrested a man Wednesday they believe committed multiple aggravated sexual assaults in Utah and Wyoming between 1991 and 2001.

Mark Douglas Burns, 69, of Ogden, has been charged with eight counts of aggravated sexual assault, six counts of aggravated kidnapping, two counts of aggravated burglary and one count of aggravated robbery — and police believe this is not the full extent of his offenses.

[...]

But police credit their real breakthrough to advancements in DNA technology and the work of a genetic genealogist Barbara Rae-Venter, who was able to discover a potential familial relationship of the suspect’s using previously gathered evidence. As a result of that work, officers were eventually able to identify and interview Burns, culminating in his arrest Wednesday after two decades of investigation.

Police say he committed each rape in a similar fashion — breaking into homes, blindfolding the victim with duct tape or ripped clothing, and then brutally raping the victim repeatedly — often while other people were in the home. He allegedly targeted women in apartments with sliding glass doors, and would take money and panties with him when he left.

His victims ranged in age from an 11-year-old girl to a 52-year-old woman. They lived in Clearfield, Ogden, Layton and Riverdale.

Clearfield police arrest alleged serial rapist with the use of a DNA database

This guy has just been sentenced to 242 years, and possibly facing 3 murder charges:

Morris ordered the 69-year-old to consecutive sentences totaling at least 242 years in prison for the "heinousness" of his crimes — 16 years to life for each of eight counts of aggravated sexual assault and six counts of aggravated kidnapping; plus lesser terms of six years and up to life for counts of aggravated burglary and aggravated robbery.

Speaking after his sentencing, Eyre said, "None of us survivors have to look over our shoulder to wonder where he is. What is he doing? Is he behind me at the grocery store? He’s never going to haunt us again, and that is a wonderful feeling."

"I just cannot believe how lucky he’s been. And I think it’s about time his luck ran out."

Burns has also been accused in the 2001 murder of 28-year-old Sue Ellen Higgins in Wyoming, as well as murders in Oregon and Arizona. He previously admitted to killing Higgins because he "panicked," and said he had given the FBI enough information to prove his confessions regarding the other two homicides are not false.

"My brain does not function properly," he said. I am a sexual deviant. I am a predator… I had a compulsion that was irresistible. It was unsatisfiable… I never admitted it to anyone."

He is yet to be prosecuted over those charges.​

'Clearfield Rapist' who raped and sexually assaulted more than a dozen women sentenced to 242 years in prison

 

[RosalindaA]

Answers for Mary London's family and friends of Sacramento, forty years on. 40 years after a partially-nude teen girl is found murdered on the side of the road, police have a suspect
This developmentally disabled young girl suffered a terrifying and brutal death in 1981. Suspect identified by DNA/genealogical techniques, Vernon Parker was murdered a year later, so "justice" was swift and probably many future victims spared. I'm just still so impressed by the work of the people who had the foresight and skills to preserve this physical evidence that has led to so many answers decades on. They really are unsung heroes and heroines.

 

[watcher9]

Answers for Mary London's family and friends of Sacramento, forty years on. 40 years after a partially-nude teen girl is found murdered on the side of the road, police have a suspect
This developmentally disabled young girl suffered a terrifying and brutal death in 1981. Suspect identified by DNA/genealogical techniques, Vernon Parker was murdered a year later, so "justice" was swift and probably many future victims spared. I'm just still so impressed by the work of the people who had the foresight and skills to preserve this physical evidence that has led to so many answers decades on. They really are unsung heroes and heroines.

Another link and WS links.

DNA Breakthrough Identifies Suspect in Cold Case Murder of California Teen

CA - CA - Mary London, 17, Sacramento, 15 Jan 1981

CO - CO - Margaret 'Peggy' Beck, 16, Jefferson County, 18 Aug 1963