Patricia Carnahan’s remains was discovered in a Lake Tahoe campground on September 28, 1979. Her identity was not known until the case was reopened in 2015. After examining DNA gathered in 1994 for an alleged sexual assault, police have only recently arrested a murder suspect.
Genetic evidence from an alleged sexual assault in 1994 led to the arrest of a guy in California for a 43-year-old murder.
Harold Carpenter, 63, is suspected of murdering Patricia Carnahan in 1979, according to the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office in California.
On September 28, 1979, Ms Carnahan’s body was discovered in a Lake Tahoe campground. Her identity was not known until the case was reopened in 2015.
Her body was unearthed, and a pendant she wore was recognised and matched her DNA.
According to NBC News, Mr Carpenter was identified after a rape kit, which is designed to gather evidence following alleged sexual offences, was eventually analysed.
According to the district attorney’s office, evidence from an alleged sexual assault in Spokane, Washington, in 1994 was analysed, and his DNA was found to match traces retrieved from Ms Carnahan’s body.
The rape kit was analysed as part of a nationwide attempt to eliminate an evidence backlog.
The sexual assault was ruled “unprovable” at the time, according to the district attorney’s office, and the victim has since died.
Mr Carpenter was arrested and jailed in 1994 on a second-degree rape charge, according to Spokane police, but the case was dropped and charges were never formally filed.
It was claimed that the kit was submitted for testing last year.
Mr Carpenter was arrested on Monday at his downtown Spokane residence.
In California, he is charged with murder, according to the district attorney’s office.
