close
close

Ourladyoftheassumptionparish

Part – Newstatenabenn

84-year-old man arrested in connection with 50-year-old cold case in Wisconsin
patheur

84-year-old man arrested in connection with 50-year-old cold case in Wisconsin

An 84-year-old Minnesota man was arrested after new genetic technology linked him to a cold case murder of a woman in the 1970s.

The Dunn County Sheriff’s Office in Wisconsin announced in a Press release that Jon K. Miller was arrested on Thursday, November 7, for the murder of Mary K. Schlais, who was found dead on February 15, 1974, near an intersection in Dunn County, Wisconsin.

Schlais, originally from Minneapolis, was believed to be “hitchhiking” from her hometown to an art exhibit in Chicago, according to an initial investigation by police.

“There was a witness who observed a suspect and a suspicious vehicle believed to be related to the homicide of Mary Schlais,” police said in their statement.

However, even though investigators searched for “clues” and “clues” and conducted interviews related to the case, they were unable to identify a “viable suspect.”

But later, thanks to advances in DNA technology and investigative genetic genealogy, in which police worked with a team of genetic genealogists from Ramapo College in Mahwah, New Jersey, they were finally able to identify Miller, of Owatonna, Minnesota, as a suspect.

The Dunn County Sheriff’s Office said in its statement that Miller is “in custody and awaiting extradition to Wisconsin.” It is not known if he has legal representation to comment on his behalf.

Want to stay up to date with the latest crime coverage? Enroll in PEOPLE’s Free True Crime Newsletter for breaking crime news, coverage of ongoing trials and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

While Dunn County Sheriff Kevin Bygd said during a press conference, according to cnnthat resolving the case was a “huge victory for our agency,” and also explained that it was not without challenges.

He said, in particular, that Miller’s genealogy threw detectives into a “curve ball” since he was adopted.

“It takes a lot more work than these guys have put in over the last few weeks to try to dodge that curveball… We were able to sit down with him and let him confirm his involvement in her homicide yesterday,” Bygd said, according to CNN.

The sheriff also said at the news conference that this was the first time his office used genetic genealogy to solve a case.

“I was actually sitting in a deer stand when I got a text yesterday from investigator (Dan) Westland (who was working the case) and I had a hard time controlling my excitement,” Bygd said, according to CNN.

He added: “I’ve spoken to all the researchers who picked this up, followed it and came to a dead end.”