In what might become a powerful tool to solve cold cases, DNA from relatives uploading to geneology companies has been used to catch a 1970s murderer.
The Golden State Killer was nailed this way last year.
Now, in 2019, they have arrested 72-year-old James Neal for murdering an 11-year-old girl in 1973.
The girl, Linda Ann O'Keefe, disappeared walking home from school. There was some DNA on the body, which was preserved and then uploaded to a police database in 2001. However, this yielded nothing, as Neal's DNA was not on file anywhere.
This year, Newport Beach Police decided to take another crack at it, checking the DNA against the databases of DNA people voluntarily submitted to geneology companies.
They received a hit through some of Neal's relatives, and started studying that family to figure out a suspect.
James Neal was in his mid-20s in 1973, and lived in Orange County. Shortly after the murder, he inexplicably changed his name and moved out of state.
They got a sample of his DNA, and it was a match. He was arrested.
The girl's parents are already dead. She would be 56-57 years old today if still alive.
However, she has two living siblings, who were notified of the arrest.
https://www.denverpost.com/2019/02/2...d-case-murder/
I wonder how many other 1970s murderers they can nail before these guys croak.