The murder of a young woman without "witnesses or suspects" was resolved 46 years later

After 46 years of uncertainty, the murder of a 19 year old girl has been solved in the USA. All the while, the investigators could not identify the attacker because there was no witness. Thanks to advances in DNA and genealogy tests, they were able to close the case and bring peace of mind to the victim 's family.

The chief of police in Terre Haute, Indiana, identified Jeffrey Lynn Hand as the murderer of Pamela Milam, then aged 19.

Pamela was last seen on September 15, 1972 in Terre Haute. The student had gone to an evening on the campus of Indiana State University, but had never returned home. His body was found the following night in the trunk of his carwho was stationed in the area. The autopsy determined that the young man was strangled with a ropewho was next to his remains. He also had injuries to his face and head.

The investigation began to face obstacles from the first moment. "We had no witnesses or description of the suspect"explained the local police chief at a press conference.

The only person they had in mind was Robert Wayne Austin, a man who had previously been accused of badually badaulting other girls on campus. But they've never had any conclusive evidence linking him to Pamela's case.

It was only in 2017 that the chief of police of Terre Haute learned of the existence of the Phenotyping of DNA, a new technique for predicting the appearance of a suspect when badyzing a sample of genetic material.

That's how he contacted the Parabon NanoLabs company, specializing in this technology, and crossed the DNA profile found at the scene of the crime with a public database on genealogy. The search was reduced from 106 people to a: Jeffrey Lynn Hand.

Despite the great discovery, it was too late. The man died in a shootout with the police in 1978, after trying to kidnap a woman on public roads. To confirm if he was the killer, the researchers crossed the sample with the genetic material of his wife and children. The result gave 99% positive results.

"It took 46 years, seven months and 20 days, and many of us, growing up, thought we would die before we knew who killed Pamela," said Charlene Sanford, one of her sisters. "We are happy to know that the killer has not lived a great life all this time.he added to the press.

According to the minutes, Jeffrey was a 23-year-old delivery man who was living in another city when he killed the young student. For the investigators, he intercepted the victim in the parking lot after choosing him randomly.