Wisconsin man charged in Upper Peninsula kidnapping and sexual assault cold case
A decades-long kidnapping and sexual assault case out of Delta County in Michigan's Upper Peninsula has been solved thanks to forensic genealogy.
In August 1986, a woman reported that she was assaulted while on a bike trip from her home in Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin, to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. The woman told Michigan State Police that after using a public bathroom at the Big Fishdam River access off US-2 in Garden Township, she was forced into a man's car at gunpoint, where he then drove around and sexually assaulted her several times before releasing her, according to police.
After 37 years without a breakthrough, MSP detectives in 2023 utilized an existing partnership with Northern Michigan University's cold case program, which gives students in the school's criminal justice program opportunities with investigation, forensic analysis and the criminal justice system.
NMU students began reviewing the original case in the fall of 2023. During that time, the use of forensic genetic genealogy, which combines genealogical databases and DNA evidence from crimes to map familial connections, was suggested to help solve the case.
MSP's forensic science division worked with a private laboratory to complete forensic genealogy testing, which provided detectives with an investigative lead.
Working with the Wisconsin Department of Justice's Division of Criminal Investigation and the Forest County Sheriff's Office in Wisconsin, Michigan detectives identified a 78-year-old Argonne, Wisconsin, man, who had previously lived in Harris, Michigan, at the time of the kidnapping and assault, and about a 45-minute drive from where the crime occurred.
A DNA sample was collected from the man and matched a sample taken from evidence in 1986.
Delta County prosecutors charged the man with kidnapping and first-degree criminal sexual conduct. Authorities had planned to arrest the man on July 29; however, he was found dead in his home on July 27.
As a result of the suspect being found dead before being arraigned, state police are not identifying him. The victim has been notified that her alleged attacker was positively identified.
"This case is a reminder of both the importance of persistence and of collaboration in the pursuit of justice," said Colonel James F. Grady II, director of the MSP, in a statement. "I extend my gratitude to the dedicated MSP troopers and detectives who worked this case over the years, never allowing it to be forgotten."
The case is believed to be the oldest sexual assault case in the state solved by using forensic genealogy, according to state police.
The Forest County Sheriff's Office is currently investigating the man's death.