Pennsylvania State Trooper Jeffrey Brock, who continued to investigate the abduction and assault of a young girl some twenty years ago. Although no match could be found to a partial fingerprint in 1999, advancements in the FBI’s fingerprint technology helped identify the perpetrator.
https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/fingerprint-technology-helps-solve-cold-case-091319
Brock consulted a now-retired FBI agent for advice on the cold case and the agent had the fingerprint re-checked using the advanced technology about a year ago. Eventually there was a hit on an offender who was sentenced last year to 30 years in prison for this crime.
Dogged work, commitment and coordination with the FBI resulted in the solving of this cold case. Had the trooper not reached out to this FBI agent, the agency would probably never have taken advantage of the latest technology used here, the Next Generation Identification System.
As happy an ending as you can have in a case like this and another striking contrast to the handling and evaluation of evidence in the OCCK case. Thanks to a reader for sending this article to me.
Brings to mind the old saying “Where there’s a will, there’s a way”.
Hello. I came across this article that indicates that DNA can be extracted from hair that does not contain a root. I seem to recall that strands of hair were found in the car of one of the likely perpetrators.
Why This Scientist Keeps Receiving Packages of Serial Killers’ Hair https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/16/science/hair-dna-murder.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
I grew up in the area and was 12 when these horrible crimes started. Through the decades, I have felt great sadness for the families and for their ill treatment by local authorities, in particular your father.
As you have repeatedly pointed out, it shocks the conscience the lack of will over the years to solve this case—and can only make one speculate about the motives of Michigan law enforcement and certain elected officials.
I have great admiration for what you are doing and I hope you can stay the course.
Respectfully, Matt Brune
Thank you, Matt. This hair evidence, upon which they place so much weight, must be tested using the procedure(s) listed in that article. A couple of us have approached law enforcement with this information, but will probably not be updated any time soon. Thank you again.