This week, an 84-year-old man was taken into custody in relation to the murder of a female hitchhiker in Wisconsin fifty years ago.
According to the Dunn County Sheriff’s Office, Mary K. Schlais, 25, was discovered dead at an intersection in Spring Brook, Wisconsin, on February 15, 1974.
Sheriff Kevin Bygd said Friday that the Minneapolis woman was slain while hitchhiking to a Chicago art show.
“This was a very bright lady who had a very bright future ahead of her,” he stated. “Her life was taken away.”
The sheriff’s office claims that despite decades of working the case, gathering evidence and following up on tips, “no viable suspects were identified.”
However, Bygd claimed investigators located 84-year-old Jon Miller in his Owatonna, Minnesota, apartment using forensic genetic genealogy. After 50 years, Miller “confirmed his involvement with Mary’s homicide” on Thursday, according to Bygd.
According to Bygd, Miller was awaiting extradition to Wisconsin. Whether Miller had hired a lawyer was unclear Friday afternoon.
Bygd claimed that upon learning of Miller’s arrest, he was overjoyed.
“I had a difficult time controlling my excitement,” he stated. “You know, I’ve been here with this agency for 35 years, and this case has been worked on all those 35 years.”
Miller’s identification as a suspect was aided by the sheriff’s office’s team of genetic genealogists, who indicated they had worked with Ramapo College in Mahwah, New Jersey, in recent years.
To locate family matches to the DNA of a crime suspect, victim, or missing person, law enforcement uses commercial DNA databases for genetic genealogy.
Arizona authorities revealed last month that they have identified a John Doe whose bones were discovered over ten years ago close to the Hoover Dam using genetic genealogy. For almost 30 years, the man’s relatives did not see him.
Don Schlais, 79, of Minneapolis, stated on Friday that he never imagined the day his sister’s death would result in an arrest.
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“It’s just surreal. You don’t expect it after all this time,” he stated.
According to Schlais, his sister was applying to graduate school after graduating from the University of Minnesota with an undergraduate degree in art. He claimed that she had a strong interest in horses and riding them.
Schlais attributed the arrest to the forensic team and law enforcement. He stated that he has no control over Miller’s fate.
“I’m going to let go and I’m going to let God,” he stated. “I suspect he will take care of this. He’ll have to pay the karma when he dies.”
