A 19-year-old woman disappeared from her Illinois village in 1979. Nearly half a century later, the cold case has been solved.

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A 19-year-old woman disappeared from her Illinois village in 1979. Nearly half a century later, the cold case has been solved.

Nearly 50 years after the murder of a 19-year-old woman who disappeared from her Illinois village, authorities have identified her killer using new DNA evidence.

In March 1979, Kathy Halle disappeared while picking up her sister at a nearby North Aurora shopping center, according to local authorities.

Police initially investigated the case as a missing person, but three weeks later Halle’s body was discovered in the Foxe River, said Ryan Peat, a detective with the North Aurora Police Department, during a press conference on Wednesday.

After years of investigation, authorities determined there was not enough evidence to identify a suspect and the case was not pursued.

It was not until 2020 that authorities re-examined the case after linking the DNA of Bruce Lindhal, a suspected serial killer who committed suicide in 1981, to the murder of another woman named Pamela Maurer, Peat said.

North Aurora authorities used new forensic technology to link DNA evidence found on Halle’s clothing to Lindhal’s DNA collected while solving Maurer’s case.

“Lindhal has been linked to several other cases in this area from this period,” Peat said. “With this new evidence, as well as that from similar cases involving Lindhal, we are able to conclude that Lindhal was responsible for the death of Kathy Halle.”

Authorities now believe Lindhal, who often visited the mall where Halle worked, kidnapped the victim from the parking lot of her apartment complex and drove her to where her body was later discovered .

“While re-examining this case has been incredibly difficult, we are deeply grateful to finally have closure to this case after 45 long years,” Halle’s family said in a statement read at the news conference. “With advances in DNA technologies and revolutionary tools, we hope that other families will not have to endure the same pain and uncertainty that we have faced for so many years. »

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