5 Cases That Were Solved Decades Later

Cold cases are being solved decades later through advances in DNA technology, particularly investigative genetic genealogy. In 2025, Brenda Marie LeBlanc was identified 30 years after her remains were found in a Niagara Falls home, ruling her death a homicide. The Green River Killer, Gary Ridgway, was linked to 48 murders in 2001 through a DNA match to a 1987 saliva sample. The 1985 rape of a woman in Sheffield, UK, was solved 40 years later when a DNA profile from her clothing matched David Hill. And the Central Park Five had their convictions vacated in 2002 after DNA linked serial rapist Matias Reyes to the crime. These are the cases where the past finally caught up.