Mystery surrounding the murder of a woman in the USA is being solved after 33 years; police explain how they found the perpetrator

Disclosure/Ventura County Police Department

California investigators have solved a mystery surrounding the murder of a woman found dead on a hillside for over thirty years. The local police announced, this Tuesday (7), that investigations into a murder case that occurred in 1991 were completed in recent weeks. The perpetrator of the crime was identified using advanced genetic genealogy technologies.

The victim, Danielle Clause, was 41 years old when she was killed. Her body was found on a hillside on July 16, 1991. According to the autopsy performed at the time, she was partially nakedwas a victim of sexual abuse and murdered with multiple head injuries. Witnesses reported that they last saw her the night before, in a conversation with an unknown man.

The case was closed after investigators “explored all avenues” and were still unable to locate the perpetrator. In 2021, agents decided to reopen the investigations and test evidence collected at the crime scene in search of DNA. The tests pointed to Larry Welch, a man with no connection to the victim, who died in 1999.

Retired Lt. Douglas Auldridge explained that at the time, all possible leads were thoroughly investigated before the case was filed as unsolved.

At a later date, there was a decision to retest the DNA evidence collected during the original investigation, and the results confirmed a match to Larry Welch. As of July 2022, genealogists have developed a family tree for Larry Welch. A female relative of Welch later turned over a DNA sample to authorities, which allowed investigators to locate Welch and his brother.

However, it was necessary to perform a DNA test on Welch’s brother, who had not been identified by authorities, to rule him out as a suspect. The DNA sample provided by the brother confirmed that Welch was responsible for Clause’s death.

Marcie Forte, the victim’s sister, recalled the brutality of the act, describing how Clause was beaten so badly that she was unrecognizable. She shared that she had always prayed to find out who took her sister’s life and expressed gratitude for witnessing the moment authorities finally identified her killer. “My sister was much more than the victim of a brutal murder“, said the woman, after announcing the discovery.