FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - A Virginia company has created a composite image of a suspect in the 1988 killing of an 8-year-old Fort Wayne girl using DNA evidence collected during the investigation.
The image of the possible killer could help generate new leads in the cold case, according to the Fort Wayne Police Department. Authorities also hope the portrait will narrow the pool of about 700 suspects who police have talked to over the past 27 years.
“Of the very large suspect list that we’ve had over the years, this gives us a way to eliminate some people off of that,” said Capt. Paul Shrawder, a deputy chief of investigations at the Fort Wayne Police Department.
Parabon NanoLabs, a technology company that develops next-generation forensic and therapeutic products, used the DNA as a genetic blueprint to create the composite image of a middle-aged white man with fair skin, dark hair and green or hazel eyes.
“Up until now, without a direct match DNA has been worthless,” said Parabon NanoLabs President Steven Armentrout. “With this technology there’s no reason to let a case go cold. With this technology you can generate a profile and immediately that can help you generate a list of suspects and narrow down a list of suspects you may have.”
April Tinsley was abducted from a Fort Wayne neighborhood on April 1, 1988. Her body was found three days later in a ditch along a rural DeKalb County road. An autopsy determined she had been raped and suffocated.
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