10 Cold Cases Cracked After Years of Mystery

It's All in the DNA

For law authorities, justice is always the priority, but, many a time it remains an elusive objective. The rate of solved murders dropped to slightly below 50% in 2020, The Marshall Project reported. The decline in clearing cases has been attributed to a lot of factors such as an increasing number of killings being committed by strangers and criminals using firearms which is a trickier weapon to analyze by forensics than knives. Advancements in DNA technology have helped authorities in contending with these problems, the U.S. Department of Justice explained in their report. Several cold cases in recent years have reached their resolution due to breakthroughs brought on by modern technology. Here is a look at ten cold cases that reached their long-awaited conclusion because of unwavering efforts by individuals and innovations in investigative techniques. 

1. Bear Brook Murders

From 1985 to 2000, four bodies were found stashed in barrels in the woods of Allenstown, New Hampshire, ATI reported. They were collectively known as Bear Brook murders. The authorities believe that the "Chameleon Killer" Terry Rasmussen, was allegedly behind these murders. Amateur sleuth Rebekah Heath helped in identifying three of the bodies. In 2017, investigators connected Rasmussen to the murders using genetic genealogy techniques. Rasmussen had died of natural causes in 2010, WMUR reported. “We believe we have our killer,” said New Hampshire Assistant Attorney General, Jeffrey Strelzin at the time, ATI reported. “Now we need to identify and try to find all of his victims.” One of the dead bodies was identified to be Rasmussen's daughter, while the other three were Marlyse Elizabeth Honeychurch, and her daughters, Marie Elizabeth Vaughn and Sarah Lynn McWaters. Heath was researching the case after hearing a podcast about it and found through family members of the victims that Honeychurch was with Rasmussen, the last time she was seen alive. DNA matching proved her suspicion. 

2. Susan Galvin's Murder

Susan Galvin was found in a parking garage elevator on the grounds of the Seattle Center Arts and Entertainment complex in 1967, ABC News reported. The 20-year-old had been sexually assaulted and murdered. She was employed as a record clerk in the Seattle Police Department. A missing case was lodged for the victim when she failed to report for her shift. Investigators found no leads in the case. In 2002, after DNA technology advancements officials sent the victim's cloth for examination. The DNA retrieved from the clothes was matched with the convicted felons in the FBI database, but no result came. 16 years later, authorities sent the DNA samples to GEDmatch, a DNA and genealogy service. Frank Wypych, a watchman, was identified as a suspect as the sample matched with one of the family trees in GEDmatch. Wypych 's body was exhumed, and forensic analysis proved that his DNA was present on Galvin's clothes.

3. Kidnapping of Melissa Highsmith

Melissa Highsmith was allegedly kidnapped by her babysitter on August 23, 1971, in Texas, People reported. An exhaustive search followed, but no results came. After five decades, Melissa Highsmith's father, Jeffrie Highsmith submitted his DNA to 23andMe and got connected with one of his grandchildren. Melissa Highsmith grew up as Melanie Miyoko in Fort Worth, just 10 minutes away from her biological family. She ran away from home at 15, due to family disputes. After Jeffrie Highsmith matched with Melissa Highsmith's children, the Fort Worth Police Department conducted a separate DNA test. It was proved with the DNA test that Melanie Miyoko was long-lost Melissa Highsmith. In 2023, Melanie Hiyoko legally changed her name back to her birth name. No charges have been pressed because the statute of limitations has expired.

4. Mary Agnes Klinsky's Murder

Mary Agnes Klinsky's body was found near Telegraph Hill Park in Holmdel, off the Garden State Parkway southbound entrance, now known as Exit 116 in 1965, USA Today reported. She had been sexually assaulted and brutally beaten to death. No leads were found about the perpetrator. In 2016, alleged serial killer Robert Zarinsky, who died in 2008 was connected to the murder with DNA technology. Zarinsky reportedly committed a series of murders and was set to go on trial for them, but died before the proceedings. Klinsky was apparently his first victim. "The dogged determination of our investigators and those at the New Jersey State Police has provided closure for the Klinsky family," acting Monmouth County Prosecutor, Christopher Gramiccioni said in a statement. "After more than half a century, they know who killed their sister and the residents of Monmouth County have a clearer understanding of the murderous reach of one of the most notorious serial killers in our history.”

5. Diane Cusick's Rape and Murder

Diane Cusick, a dance teacher and mother-of-one was found beaten, raped, and duct-taped in her car in Valley Stream's Green Acres Mall parking lot on February 16, 1968, NBC4 New York reported. DNA technology helped the Nassau County Police Department to connect Cusick's death with Richard Cottingham, also known as "Times Square Killer." "Diane Cusick, a 23-year-old mother, called her parents on the night of February 15, 1968, to tell them she was going to the mall to purchase shoes. She never returned home," District Attorney Anne Donnelly said in the indictment. "Cusick was allegedly bound and murdered by Richard Cottingham." In 2022, Cottingham admitted to the murder along with four other slayings.

6. Joan Harrison's Murder

Joan Harrison, a prostitute, was found murdered in a garage in Preston in 1975, BBC reported. The authorities believed that she had been murdered by Yorkshire Ripper, a notorious serial killer. In 2011, the real perpetrator reportedly came out when DNA evidence from the crime scene matched that of Christopher Smith from Leeds. Smith died in 2008, and just days before his death submitted his DNA sample to the authorities in a case of drinking and driving. His samples were in the database and investigators found a match. The suspect had past convictions on charges of assault and theft to sex attacks. Harrison had left a letter in which he confessed to the crime.

7. Grim Sleeper's Revelation

Grim Sleeper was a serial killer whose victims were Black women who were either drug addicts or prostitutes, Rolling Stones reported. He committed a series of murders in the 1980s. There was a huge uproar by the Black community at the law enforcement's alleged callous attitude in capturing the perpetrator. In 2007, Bill Bratton, the Police Commissioner of L.A. at that time assembled a task force to bring the killer behind bars. The team was facing multiple issues in finding the “longest-operating serial killer west of the Mississippi.” A breakthrough happened in the case when Attorney General Jerry Brown allowed the use of DNA probes in California's felon database. DNA samples found in multiple death scenes attributed to Grim Sleeper were run in the database. In 2009, a man named Christopher Franklin was arrested for felony weapons possession. He had submitted his DNA to the database, and according to forensic analysis was related to the serial killer. Lonnie Franklin Jr., Christopher Franklin's father became a person of interest. Officers followed the suspect and took his DNA from a plate, cup, and pizza crust. Lonnie Franklin Jr. was convicted of killing ten women and sentenced to death on August 10, 2016. Grim Sleeper was found unresponsive in his single cell on March 28, 2020, and was later pronounced dead, the California Department of Correction and Rehabilitation stated. 

8. Angela Kleinsorge's Murder

Angela Kleinsorge, 84, was brutally murdered in 1992, and the breakthrough came in 2017 after familial DNA testing, NBC San Diego reported. The alleged perpetrator was found to be Jeffrey Falls, a man who lived across the street from the victim. The suspect died in 2006 in a crash. Department of Justice ran the DNA sample found on the crime scene within the criminal database. A convicted offender who had died came up as a familial match. The convict, according to the analysis was the brother of Kleinsorge's killer. Investigators found that the convict had two brothers, one of whom was dead. Falls' DNA was taken from the hair of his dead body and came out as a match. "To learn that it had been a neighbor – it was just horrifying to us," said the victim's daughter, Hedy, at a press conference.

9. I-65/Days Inn Killer Exposed

I-65 killer was the moniker given to the person who targeted women who worked at hotels along the Midwest highway in the late 1980s, NBC News reported. His attacking spree continued from 1987 to 1990. Three of his victims were Vicki Heath, Margaret "Peggy" Gill, and Jeanne Gilbert. One other woman was attacked but she managed to escape. The survivor gave the attacker's description to the authorities. In 2019, the use of DNA analysis, genealogy research, and historical records brought forth Harry Edward Greenwell as the suspect. "It is this scientific breakthrough that ultimately led to the identification of the I-65 killer Harry Edward Greenwell," Indiana State Police Sgt. Glen Fifield said. "Greenwell had an extensive criminal history and had been in and out of prison." The suspect had died in 2013.

10. Virginia Vincent's Killing

Virginia Vincent from Danville was found dead in 1985 by a neighbor, KTVU reported. According to the evidence found on the crime scene, authorities created a DNA profile in 2002. No matches came up. In 2017, investigators applied the method of familial search which led them to Joey Ford. Ford had died back in 1997. "Because the suspect Joey Ford is deceased, there will be no prosecution in this case," Contra Costa County Sheriff David Livingston said in a release. "However, we hope that the identification of the suspect in the killing of Virginia Vincent brings her family and the community some closure in this painful case."