Discarded napkin resolves murder mystery in US

A discarded restaurant napkin helped police officials in the US to identify a murder suspect 32 years after he committed the crime, a media report said today.

Pierce County prosecutors yesterday charged Gary Charles Hartman, 66, with first-degree murder and first-degree rape in the 1986 death of a 12-year-old girl.

Police say Michella Welch and her two younger sisters went to Puget Park, Tacoma (Washington) on March 26, 1986. About 11 am Michella rode a bicycle home to get lunch. While she was gone, the sisters went to a business to use the restroom.

When they returned, they didn't see Michella and continued to play in a gulch until they noticed the bicycle and lunch at the spot where they were supposed to meet for a picnic, the chief said. The girls notified their baby sitter, who contacted the girls' mother. Police were called and a search began, CNN reported.

A search dog found Michella's body that night in an isolated area in the gulch, more than a quarter mile away from the play area.

"Michella had been sexually assaulted and murdered." Tacoma Police Chief Don Ramsdell said at a news conference.

Police collected evidence but did not make any arrests.

Police developed a male DNA profile from crime scene evidence, but found no match in state and national databases.

In 2016, police began working with a genetic genealogist.

"Genetic genealogy uses a DNA technology to identify subjects by matching the unknown profile to a family member," Ramsdell said. "Traditional genealogy is then used to build a family tree from publicly available websites."
"I observed him using the napkin multiple times," Reopelle said. "He crumpled it up, put it into a bag and then crumpled that bag up and voluntarily abandoned that bag as he left the restaurant."