Hi everyone,
This week brought seven cold case developments: two arrests, two convictions, one guilty plea, one man identified decades after his remains were found, and one Canadian case now under independent review.
Mary Ann Turner, Spokane, Washington (1986)
Mary Ann Turner. Photo: The Spokesman-Review
Case Overview: Mary Ann Turner, 32, was found dead in an alley near South Ivory Street in Spokane on November 4, 1986, and the autopsy found she had been strangled. A witness saw her get into a two-door car, and an anonymous tip to Secret Witness, Spokane's crime tip line, pointed police to David Tibbett, who refused to speak with investigators. A 2008 lab analysis found an unknown man's DNA mixed with Turner's under her fingernails, but database searches produced no match through 2025.
Key Details Digest:
Victim / Subject: Mary Ann Turner, 32; found dead November 4, 1986
Jurisdiction / Agency: Spokane Police Department (Major Crimes Unit) and Spokane County Prosecutor's Office; Spokane, Washington
Resolution / Breakthrough Method: Forensic genetic genealogy (Othram) pointed to the suspect's family; police then secretly collected his DNA from an envelope he licked and mailed back, and the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab confirmed the match
Breakthrough Summary: Spokane police sent the DNA to Othram in 2025, and its genealogy leads pointed investigators to the suspect's family in January 2026. In February 2026 police mailed David Tibbett a letter about his recovered car; he signed it and licked the envelope, and in March the crime lab reported that the fingernail DNA was 4.3 million times more likely to be his than anyone else's in the U.S. Detectives arrested Tibbett, 74, at his home on October 21, 2026, on a second-degree murder charge. He made a first court appearance on October 22, with bond set at $1 million. He is accused and has not been convicted.
Sources: The Spokesman-Review, DNASolves (Othram), KXLY
Have information? Contact the Spokane Police Department.
Clarence Ames, Correctionville, Iowa (1988)
Case Overview: On August 30, 1988, Iowa Department of Transportation staff found skeletal remains along U.S. Highway 20 just east of Correctionville in Woodbury County. Investigators concluded the remains belonged to an adult man who likely died between 1971 and 1975, and found nothing suggesting foul play. Personal effects did not identify him, and he was entered in NamUs as UP2619.
Key Details Digest:
Victim / Subject: Clarence Ames, born January 27, 1909, of Dubuque, Iowa; remains found August 30, 1988 (death estimated 1971 to 1975)
Jurisdiction / Agency: Woodbury County Sheriff's Office, with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and the Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner; Woodbury County, Iowa
Resolution / Breakthrough Method: Forensic-grade genome sequencing (Othram) and forensic genetic genealogy (FBI)
Breakthrough Summary: In 2025 the Iowa DCI and the state medical examiner sent the remains to Othram, with casework paid for by NamUs. Othram built a DNA profile, and an FBI genealogy search found a possible relative in Texas; that relative's information and further DNA testing confirmed the identification. His remains were released to family on October 12, 2026, for burial at his parents' gravesite in Dubuque, and the sheriff's office announced the identification on October 20. Cause and manner of death are undetermined.
Sources: KTIV, DNASolves (Othram)
Have information? Anyone who knew Clarence Ames in the late 1960s or early 1970s can contact the Woodbury County Sheriff's Office at 712-279-6010.
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Leslie McCray, Jacksonville, Florida (1985)
Case Overview: Leslie McCray, 17, was abducted at knifepoint from her St. Johns Avenue home in the early hours of December 24, 1985. She was found hours later, sexually assaulted and stabbed to death. Evidence was retested in 2003 without usable results, and the case stayed cold until her family asked the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Cold Case Unit and Project: Cold Case to re-examine it in 2019.
Key Details Digest:
Victim / Subject: Leslie McCray, 17; December 24, 1985
Jurisdiction / Agency: Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Cold Case Unit and the State Attorney's Office; Jacksonville, Florida
Resolution / Breakthrough Method: DNA profile from the autopsy sexual assault exam matched to a known offender
Breakthrough Summary: Detectives developed a DNA profile from a swab taken at McCray's autopsy, and it matched David Nelson Austin, who was already imprisoned in Michigan for an unrelated sexual assault. He was charged in 2021. On October 22, 2026, after a bench trial, Judge Meredith Charbula found Austin, 65, guilty of first-degree murder, two counts of armed kidnapping and armed sexual battery. He faces a mandatory life sentence; sentencing is set for November 18, 2026.
Christopher Jarvis, Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia (2006)
Christopher Jarvis. Photo: Australian Missing Persons Register via ABC News
Case Overview: Christopher Jarvis, 38, a Warrnambool father, was last seen leaving his home at Wangoom, near Warrnambool, around 6 a.m. on June 13, 2006. His car was later found burnt out at a tourist lookout near Warrnambool. The case was first treated as a missing person case, and his body has never been found.
Key Details Digest:
Victim / Subject: Christopher Jarvis, 38; June 13, 2006
Jurisdiction / Agency: Police in Victoria, Australia (investigating unit not disclosed); tried in the Supreme Court of Victoria sitting in Warrnambool
Resolution / Breakthrough Method: Police reinvestigation of a long-running missing person case (specific evidence not disclosed)
Breakthrough Summary: Police reinvestigated the disappearance and arrested Steven Frederick Johnson, a former police officer and Jarvis's landlord, in 2022. Prosecutors said Johnson attacked Jarvis over $2,210 in unpaid rent, drove him to Framlingham Forest, struck him with a baseball bat and buried him in a shallow grave. On October 23, 2026, after a 21-day trial and four days of deliberation, a jury found Johnson, 74, guilty of murder. He returns to court for a plea hearing on December 14 and will be sentenced later.
Sources: ABC News, The New Daily (2022 charge)
Paul Herlihy, Milford, New Hampshire (2003)
Paul Herlihy. Photo: New Hampshire Department of Justice
Case Overview: Paul Herlihy, 50, was found dead in his Milford home on August 27, 2003, during a welfare check; his body was wrapped in carpet under a tarp. The autopsy ruled his death a homicide caused by blunt force trauma, and the cause was withheld for years for investigative reasons. No one was charged for nearly 22 years.
Key Details Digest:
Victim / Subject: Paul Herlihy, 50; killed between August 23 and 27, 2003
Jurisdiction / Agency: New Hampshire Attorney General's Cold Case Unit with the New Hampshire State Police Major Crime Unit; Milford, New Hampshire
Resolution / Breakthrough Method: Cold case reinvestigation, including a statement made during an unrelated 2020 arrest and a recorded phone call arranged by investigators in May 2025
Breakthrough Summary: His son, Douglas Herlihy, who was 17 in 2003, was arrested in Saugus, Massachusetts, in June 2025 and charged with second-degree murder. According to an arrest affidavit, he told an officer during a 2020 arrest that he "beat my first body when I was 17." On October 21, 2026, Herlihy, 40, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and attempted falsification of physical evidence under a deal that calls for 12 to 24 years in prison. The deal is subject to court approval, and sentencing is expected in early 2027.
Sources: ABC News, Fox News, CBS News (2025 arrest)
Harry Bennett, Johns Island, South Carolina (2017)
Case Overview: Harry Bennett was found dead in his Johns Island apartment on August 20, 2017, after a neighbor's knock went unanswered. He had been stabbed multiple times. Police interviewed several people at the time, but no one was charged.
Key Details Digest:
Victim / Subject: Harry Bennett; August 20, 2017
Jurisdiction / Agency: Charleston Police Department; Johns Island, Charleston, South Carolina
Resolution / Breakthrough Method: DNA testing of newly identified items from the original evidence
Breakthrough Summary: Detectives reopened the case earlier in 2026 and worked with the department's Forensic Services Division and its DNA technical leader to find additional items suitable for testing. The results linked Henry James Brisbane, 69, of Charleston, who had been among the people first interviewed, to the crime scene. He was arrested on October 20, 2026, and charged with murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. He is accused and has not been convicted.
Sources: Live 5 News, The Post and Courier
Have information? Contact the Charleston Police Department at 843-720-2422.
Byron Carr, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada (1988)
Case Overview: Byron Carr, a 36-year-old school teacher, was strangled and stabbed in his Charlottetown home in 1988. A handwritten note on a wall read "I will kill again." In 2024 police charged a man with first-degree murder and interfering with human remains; he pleaded not guilty, and a jury trial was set for November 2026.
Key Details Digest:
Victim / Subject: Byron Carr, 36; 1988
Jurisdiction / Agency: Charlottetown Police Services; P.E.I. Crown prosecutors; P.E.I. Department of Justice
Resolution / Breakthrough Method: Not applicable (prosecution ended after police lost physical evidence)
Breakthrough Summary: On October 13, 2026, the Crown withdrew all charges after Charlottetown police could not find key evidence, including a knife collected in 1988 and a towel believed to have been used in the strangling. On October 20, Justice Minister Bloyce Thompson called for a third party to review the investigation from 1988 to 2026, and the interim police chief said the force welcomes the review. The man who was charged has not been convicted and is presumed innocent.
Have information? Contact Charlottetown Police Services.
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