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As 2024 comes to a close, police have solved some of the oldest cold cases using new crime-solving techniques that didn’t exist at the time the crimes occurred. DNA and genetic genealogy are growing technologies across the United States, and more law enforcement agencies are using them to solve crimes, as evidenced by recently solved murders.
Here are five of them: According to the Brookings Institution, the U.S. homicide rate in 2024 is on track to return to levels similar to those recorded in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. is consistent with The number of homicides has been declining for the third consecutive year.
These statistics include a murder that occurred in California 45 years ago. The case of Luis Randy Williamson, who murdered 17-year-old Esther Gonzalez just off Highway 243 in Riverside County in 1979, remains unsolved to this day. In November 2024, the Riverside County Regional Cold Case Homicide Team announced that after using forensic genealogy to confirm the identity, the suspect was identified as Williamson, who died in 2014.
Esther’s sister, Elizabeth, said the Gonzalez family had mixed feelings about the findings.
“I’m so happy it’s finally closing,” Elizabeth Gonzalez wrote in an email published by CNN. “We’re happy about that, but it’s a little sad that now that the guy is dead, he can’t spend his time killing her.”
Another cold case that was solved over 40 years ago is the Kathy Hall case. The North Aurora, Illinois Police Department determined that serial killer Bruce Lindahl killed her. DNA Research Institute International confirmed that the DNA found on Halle’s clothing was 9.4 trillion times more likely to have come from Lindahl. Police also said Lindahl’s known criminal pattern led investigators to conclude that he was responsible.
Investigators believe Lindahl murdered more than a dozen women and girls. In 1981, he died in his Chicago apartment from an accidental self-inflicted knife wound to the leg.
In another solved case, the Ada County Sheriff’s Office in Idaho closed its investigation into the murder of 25-year-old Mary Tracy, who was stabbed to death in 1980, in June 2024. A passerby found Tracy’s body lying in tall grass on the side of the highway. After investigators reopened the case in 2023 at the request of the family, DNA testing a year later revealed the suspect was likely Charles Nicholas Strain, who died in prison in 2007. did.
Police in Oklahoma are solving another brutal murder at Lela Johnston’s home. This case has been dormant for nearly 50 years. The Oklahoma City Police Department’s cold case unit reported using a new investigative technique for the first time to solve a murder case when DNA Labs International found a positive match to a man named Charles Droke, who was himself murdered. . Police then closed the case.
The news brought closure to Johnston’s family. “I thought it would never end,” Leslie Salenger, Johnston’s granddaughter, said in a statement included in a police press release. “It was very long.”
Another cold case, the stabbing death of hitchhiker Mary K. Schleiss in 1974, was also solved through DNA testing. The results of this test led police to arrest 84-year-old John Miller, the Dunn County Sheriff’s Office said in a recorded press conference.” Dan Westlund, the investigator in charge of the case. According to , the victim’s family was relieved to learn that police had made the arrest.
“I don’t want to forget that this is justice for Mary and closure for her family,” Westlund told the media at a press conference. “Mary is remembered as an outstanding artist, horsewoman, sister and daughter.”
Commenting on the expected decline in homicide rates in 2024, San Diego family psychologist Gina Simmons said, “Studies have shown many harmful effects after witnessing or experiencing a violent crime. “It causes anxiety and stress and has a negative impact on the body. The recent sharp decline in crime should help.” Feeling safe is necessary for happiness and optimal mental health. ”
