Raymond Rowe accused of killing Christy Mirack in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1992

LANCASTER, Pa. – Police used genealogical information from a close relative to identify the suspect in the rape and strangling of a school teacher in 1992. The authorities accused Raymond Charles Rowe, 49, Monday, unresolved murder of Christy Mirack.

A Lancaster County detective accused Rowe, a popular DJ, of beating Mirack to death in his home while she was preparing to go to teach a sixth grade class. She had suffered a broken jaw in addition to strangulation and violent sexual assault.

"We never dropped this case," but the investigators were running out of suspects, said Lancaster District Attorney Craig Stedman. "It has not been easy, but one of the reasons we persevered and we have never forgotten is that it is so disturbing."

Stedman said Rowe would not qualify for bail, the WHP-TV reports from CBS Harrisburg.

The DNA left on the crime scene by the assailant never triggered a match, and Rowe had not been a suspect during the investigation years, Stedman said. . In December 1992, Rowe lived about 4 miles from the Mirack apartment shared with a roommate. We do not know if they knew each other.

Stedman recently hired a private company to use DNA to search for relatives of the suspect, and this process identified Rowe.

"This killer was free from this crime, this brutal crime, for longer than Christy Mirack was alive on this earth," Stedman said at a press conference. "And they directed us on the way to hold him ultimately responsible."

An undercover operation at an elementary school where he was performing on May 31st while DJ Freez was producing a bottle of water and gum that he had used, and the police at him. State then established an alleged genetic match.

Rowe was arrested at his home on Monday and charged with criminal homicide. The court records did not identify a defense attorney, and a message left to his DJ business was not immediately returned.

Authorities said Mirack had been found wearing a coat and gloves, suggesting that she was about to leave her house when she was killed. A wooden cutting board, believed to have been used to attack him, was found by his body.

The principal of her primary school, Mirack, did not show up for work four days before Christmas and did not answer the calls, she discovered the body on the floor of her living room and called 911.

An autopsy revealed injuries to the neck, back, upper chest and face.