ATLANTA, Ga. (CBS46) – Newly-uncovered genetic proof helped authorities work out who’s chargeable for a 1988 crime. Authorities consider it’s the primary time ever that DNA know-how recognized each the sufferer and killer in a single chilly case.

Stacey Chahorski was simply 19 years outdated when she was killed. Her physique was discovered alongside the freeway in Dade County, not removed from the Alabama-Georgia border. But for the final 33 years, investigators didn’t know rather more, together with the identities of her and her killer.

Decades later her household lastly obtained some solutions, within the type of new family tree DNA testing. The know-how is used to positively determine an individual’s DNA.

“We are standing here today, almost 34 years later, to say we have finally identified Stacey Chahorski’s killer,” mentioned Keri Farley, FBI Atlanta particular agent in cost.

That killer is now recognized as Hank Wise. Investigators say they matched a residing member of the family’s DNA to his.

Wise was a trucker whose route crossed via the Southeast, and whose DNA was additionally discovered on the scene; Wise had a felony historical past in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina.

The GBI and FBI are glad they endured

“I spoke to Stacy’s mother last week to let her know that we found who the killer was. And she, of course, was upset. But she was very thankful to everybody that I mentioned – and was just overwhelmed,” mentioned Joe Montgomery, GBI particular agent in cost

Wise is now not alive. Authorities say he died in a fiery automobile accident in 1999. But now, the household has some peace, their daughter’s killer, is now not roaming free.

“Let this serve as a warning to every murderer, rapist, and violent offender out there. The FBI and our partners will not give up. It may take years or even decades, but we continually seek justice for victims and their families,” mentioned Farley.

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