Here are a dozen of the most stubbornly unresolved cold cases that were finally put to bed in 2022. Diana Hanson's Suspected Killer ID'd In Las Vegas | Crime News For decades, the Cascade County Sheriff's Office continued to work on it, with multiple detectives attempting to make progress over the years. After being interviewed by troopers in his Arkansas home in early August 2020, Branch died by suicide. They immediately tied . (The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children). In May 2022, genome sequencing technology became available to the Fairfax police department, enabling investigators to reach out to potential family members. Cold case investigations - 9News 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). Sep 15, 2021. As we've seen, DNA technology is growing by leaps and bounds every year and while no workable DNA profile could be created at that time, it was a different story just seven years later. After more than 25 years, she was finally identified as Joyce Meyer, a woman who had drifted apart from her family after moving to Virginia in the mid-'80s. It never happened. In this case, "Our genealogists, what they're going to do is independently build a family tree from this cousin's profile," Andrew Singer, an executive with Bode Technology, told NPR. He was paroled in Texas and shot to death in Laredo in February 2012. ", An image of "Little Miss Nobody," a girl discovered in a remote Arizona desert more than 60 years ago. At a cemetery in Annandale, Virginia (pictured), the body of a middle-aged woman was found. 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. DNA genealogy was used to compare the sample to public databases to find familial matches. A spot of blood on the victims shirt that seemed to suggest the culprit stood over the body and bled on the shirt as he ransacked the victims pockets. 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. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 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. Charles W. Helem was arrested for murdering his ex-girlfriend in Chantilly. 10 Cold Cases Solved - Forensics Colleges 60, College student with passion for genealogy helps solve Marise Chiverella cold case, Detectives: Joette Marie Smith taught us to not give up, Willoughby Police solve cold case with new DNA technology, Authorities Arrest Man Linked To 1975 Pennsylvania Murder By DNA Testing, Ten Cold Case Killings That Have Puzzled Police for Decades, 10 Years-Old Cold Cases That Were Solved by Cigarettes, 10 Famous Cold Cases That Could Be Solved In 2021, Top 10 Mysteries, Cold Cases & Puzzles That Were, Top 10 Best Movies Of The Last 10 Decades, Top 10 Best Comedy Duos Of The Last 10 Decades, 10 Abducted Children Who Found Their Way Home Decades Later, Top 10 Bizarre Elements Of The Elisa Lam Case, 10 Awesome New Discoveries About the Human Past from DNA, 10 Controversial Toys You Might Already Have in Your Home, Ten Absolutely Vicious Fights over Inherited Fortunes, 10 Female Film Pioneers Who Shaped the Movies, Ten True Tales from Americas Toughest Prison, 10 Times Members of Secretive Societies and Organizations Spilled the Beans, 10 Common Idioms with Unexpectedly Dark Origins, 10 North American Animals with Misplaced Reputations, Top 10 Grim Cold Cases With Recent Twists And Turns, Ten Chilling Murders of Baseball Stars at Their Prime, 10 Criminal Writers With Real Skeletons In Their Closets, 10 Creepy Serial Killers Of The 19th Century, 10 Facts About Robert Maudsley AKA The Real-Life Hannibal Lecter, 10 Disturbing Facts About the Rostov Ripper, Andrei Chikatilo. Or to keep it anonymous, click here. Audio, . 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]. 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. Prisoner with a conscience helped St. Louis' cold-case unit cross one off the list. Uncovered: Recent Unsolved Murders (Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP) Her body was located . Richard Cottingham makes a remote appearance in a courtroom in Mineola, N.Y., Dec. 5, 2022. 20 of the most famous cold cases of all time - Reader's Digest Australia In the 36 years since, the case was passed to many detectives, all to no avail. At 6.30am on December 1, 1948, the body of an unknown man was discovered on Somerton Park beach, beginning one of Australia's . That is what happened with these four cold case murders that the U.S. police solved in 2019. The serial killer committed at least 12 murders and 120 residential burglariesthen he disappeared without a trace. Homicide in 1988 of Rocky Taylor, 25, closed after DNA match Here are a dozen of the most stubbornly unresolved cold cases that were finally put to bed in 2022. It worked: DNA testing led investigators to a man named Kenneth Gould. Five People That Have Become Cold Cases in 2021 - Medium Investigators agreed and asked the Franklin County Coroner's office to again evaluate the 15-year-old's autopsy. 2 cold cases solved, 3 arrested in Union County, officials say - WYFF 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. Originally from Rochester, New York, Drexel was spending her spring break vacation in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and was last seen walking from one hotel to another. According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, the Highsmith family had just moved to the Fort Worth area, and Melissa's mother placed a local newspaper ad seeking a babysitter. Story tips can be sent to stephanie.pagones@fox.com and on Twitter: @steph_pagones. 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. 1. From there unraveled the solution to cold cases spanning decades-and the identity of a serial killer. Smith died in 2013 at the age of 94. 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. ", PHILADELPHIA 'BOY IN THE BOX' IDENTIFIED 65 YEARS AFTER BODY FOUND BEATEN, WRAPPED IN BLANKET. Even without that complication, Singer explained to NPR, the success rate depends heavily on how well the evidence has been preserved over the years. She was last seen at a high school football game. Due to a lack of physical evidence, however, this unknown man was acquitted of the crime. 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. 26 November 2021 26 Nov 2021. "Families deserve answers, even. Authorities arrested 58-year-old . Nothing, that is, until 2018, when an amateur cold case enthusiast came forward with one tiny detail after police reopened the case. On January 7, 1969, 23-year-old Jane Britton failed to show up for an exam. In 1999, 13-year-old Minerliz Soriano was assaulted and killed on her way home from her New York City school, according to People. In 2009, Dawn and Chad Drexel lived every parent's worst nightmare. On Aug. 23, 1971, the woman picked up Melissa from the mothers apartment, where a roommate had been watching the child while her mom was at work. On Sunday, November 29, 1992 officers from the Colton Police Department responded to the railroad tracks off Pepper Avenue and the 10 Freeway in Colton to investigate the report of a dead body. Kim Bell. Her body was found in a field, but police never identified a suspect. The Cascade County Sheriff's Office announced on Tuesday that it has closed the file on the 1956 double homicide of Patricia Kalitzke and Lloyd Duane Bogle, resolving the . (Yavapai County Sheriff's Office). 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. COLD CASES SOLVED - Google Podcasts A Danby, Vermont couple, George and Catherine Peacock, were murdered in September 1989. 2) A case that could realistically be resolved in 2021, cases that are maybe not as cold or just missing one or two nuggets that could wrap it up. By searching public records (such as death certificates and newspaper clippings), forensic genealogists are then able to construct a family tree that can point them right to the suspect, even if that suspect has never provided their DNA to any public database. But it was only recently, when widow Barbara Krusenfailed a polygraph test administered by the FBI, that authorities say they were finally able to sift fact away from fiction, subterfuge, rumor, and doubt. 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). Both men are now dead but had extensive criminal histories, according to Yost's office. The man who would eventually be named as her killer, Raymond Moody, had been a person of interest in Brittanee Drexel's disappearance as far back as 2012 but until just recently, they had nothing solid connecting him to the crime. Both men were freed in the early 1970s and are now connected to the deaths of Nesson and Adams. The next day, Angela was briefly reunited with her son. 14 Creepy Missing Persons Cases That Were Eventually Solved. or redistributed. "Because it was all theories up to that point we finally had a match and we had a name. Bogle, an airman hailing from Texas, and Kalitzke, a junior at Great Falls High School, had fallen for each other and were even considering marriage, the Tribune reports. Sharons parents died before they were able to learn their daughters fate. Hope to see the resolution to all and have a great new year. 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. 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. The woman allegedly offered her clothes and sweets, but she refused, at which point she was forced into the vehicle. 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. The cops never took their eye off of Drummond despite the fact that he left the state shortly after committing the crime, and when improved DNA technology allowed them to develop a sturdy profile of Smith's killer, they zeroed in on him in earnest. Cold cases - BBC News At first, the widow now claims, her husband lied to her about the victims whereabouts and said someone came and picked them up.. The technique is used to create family trees based on genetic similarities to hopefully lead back to the owner of the unknown sample. GREAT FALLS, Mont. Jon Kadner, who was assigned the case in 2012 his first cold case, he said during an interview with NPR. 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. 13 True Crime Cases That Were Solved In 2022 . 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.