10 DNA Breakthroughs In Cold Cases
Finding Baby Holly
In 2022, genetic genealogy helped authorities locate the missing daughter of a couple murdered in the early 1980s. Holly was 42 when she learned that her biological parents, Dean and Tina Clouse, were murdered when she was a toddler. The Clouse family moved to Texas in 1980, then disappeared. In 2021, two unidentified murder victims discovered in 1981 were identified as Dean and Tina through genetic genealogy. But what happened to Holly? According to her adoptive father, three women from a religious cult called Christ Family came to the church he pastored. They had a baby girl they wanted to give away. One of these women was likely Tina. Police believe the Clouses joined Christ Family and gave up Holly soon after. Their murders are unsolved.
Murders of Jay Cook & Tanya Van Cuylenborg
In November 1987, Jay Cook and his girlfriend Tanya Van Cuylenborg got into his parent’s van and left British Columbia for Seattle. When the couple didn’t return as planned, their families reported them missing. A few days later, Cuylenborg’s body was discovered about 80 miles outside of Seattle. Cook’s body was located a short time later. Along with other evidence, investigators collected a DNA sample from Cuylenborg’s pants. Despite promising theories and leads, the case went cold for nearly 30 years. The DNA sample wasn’t linked to a suspect until 2018 when investigators turned to genetic genealogy. A familial link to a woman named Chelsea Rustad led authorities to William Earl Talbott II, Rustad’s cousin. He was tried and convicted in 2019.
Murder of Krista Martin
Advanced DNA testing wasn’t available when Krista Martin was sexually assaulted and murdered in 1989. Nonetheless, investigators collected DNA evidence, hoping future developments in DNA technology would help them find her killer. Over the years, numerous attempts to find a match to the sample proved unsuccessful, and the case went cold. After 34 years, a breakthrough seemed unlikely. But in 2023, thanks to forensic genealogy, officials determined that Martin’s neighbor at the time of her murder, Paul Hart, was likely her killer. Authorities had enough evidence to charge Hart in the case. Unfortunately, he died in a car accident in 1999, over two decades before authorities were able to connect him to the killing.
Lady of the Dunes
In the summer of 1974, a girl came across the body of a woman in the dunes of Provincetown, Massachusetts. Police attempted to determine the murdered woman’s identity, but despite their efforts, the case went cold. She became known as the Lady of the Dunes. Her body was exhumed thrice for examination, including in 2000 to collect DNA. Unfortunately, there were no matches. In 2018, after submitting his DNA to an online DNA database, Richard Hanchett discovered his biological mother was a missing person named Ruth Marie Terry. Through additional DNA testing, police successfully identified the Lady of the Dunes as Ruth Marie Terry in 2022. Her husband, Guy Rockwell Muldavin, is considered responsible for her death. The case is now officially closed.
Murders of Lloyd Duane Bogle & Patricia Kalitzke
In 1956, Lloyd Duane Bogle and Patricia Kalitzke went on a date in Great Falls, Montana, and never came back. The next morning, Bogle’s lifeless body was found next to his car. One day later, a road worker discovered Kalitzke dead on the side of a county road north of town. DNA testing wasn’t around yet, but DNA from a swab collected during Kalitzke’s autopsy would later provide investigators with the evidence needed to solve the case. Initially, the sample helped eliminate many suspects. Then, in 2019, investigators uploaded the DNA to several voluntary genealogical databases and found a familial link. Based on subsequent testing, they concluded Kenneth Gould, who died in 2007, likely killed the sweethearts. After 65 years, the case was closed.
Murder of Sierra Bouzigard
The body of a woman was found in a secluded area north of Lake Charles, Louisiana, in 2009. A distinctive tattoo helped investigators identify the woman as Sierra Bouzigard. DNA evidence from the scene provided no leads. The case went cold until snapshot DNA phenotyping gave police the breakthrough they needed in 2017. The phenotyping indicated the perpetrator probably had fair skin and blue eyes. Police released a composite sketch based on the suspect's predicted physical characteristics. Blake Russell landed on police radar when someone reported him after the image was released. Russell was a DNA match. In 2018, he took his own life while in jail awaiting trial.
Bear Brook Murders
A hunter in New Hampshire’s Bear Brook State Park made a startling discovery when he came upon a metal drum containing two bodies. The woman and young girl inside had been murdered. 15 years later, near the same location, a drum holding the remains of two young girls was found. The four murders remained a mystery until genetic genealogy linked serial killer Terry Rasmussen to the case in 2017. Investigators also revealed Rasmussen had fathered one of the victims. Two years later, there was another break in the case when amateur sleuth Becky Heath identified three of the victims as Marylse Honeychurch and her daughters, Elizabeth Vaughn and Sarah McWaters. Genetic genealogy confirmed her findings. The name of the remaining victim, Rassmusen’s child, is unknown.
The BTK Killer
Between 1974 and 1991, a serial killer in Kansas claimed at least ten lives. The killer, who went by the name BTK, taunted authorities and the media by sending letters containing details about the murders that only the killer would know. Abruptly, the letters stopped. Then, in 2004, BTK resumed communication by sending a letter to a news outlet. Eventually, metadata from a computer disk that BTK mailed to police gave them a name: Dennis Rader. Police collected Rader’s daughter’s DNA to compare to a sample left by BTK at a crime scene. It was a close match. This familial link was the evidence needed to tie Rader to the BTK killings. He was convicted in 2005 and is serving life in prison.
Golden State Killer
The Golden State Killer went on at least three separate crime sprees in California during the 1970s and 1980s. Authorities did not immediately make the connection between the sprees. As a result, several different monikers were assigned to the same perpetrator, including the Visalia Ransacker and Night Stalker. Eventually, through advanced DNA testing, it was determined that the same person had committed the crimes. In 2017, investigators submitted crime scene DNA to an online genealogy database, looking for familial links. Their efforts led them to Joseph James DeAngelo. In 2020, DeAngelo was convicted of 13 counts of murder and 13 counts of kidnapping. While he was responsible for many other crimes, he could not be charged due to the statute of limitations.
The Boy in the Box
The body of a boy was found wrapped in a blanket inside a box on the side of the road in Philadelphia in 1957. Police circulated images of him, hoping to determine who he was, but no viable leads ever surfaced. As time passed, he became known simply as the Boy in the Box. Officials exhumed him twice for DNA testing. The case remained a mystery, confounding investigators and the public. Then, in 2022, genetic genealogy led to his name: Joseph Augustus Zarelli. Investigators also identified his parents as Augustus Zarelli and Mary Plunkett, née Abel. It’s theorized that his mother gave him up for adoption shortly after his birth, but it’s unknown who he lived with before he died or who ended his life.
Did we miss any cold cases with surprising DNA breakthroughs? Let us know in the comments!
