Donald Steven Perea has been identified as the lead suspect in the August 25, 1981 rape and murder of 18-year-old Jeannie Moore in Lakewood, Colorado. The case has been cleared by exception due to the death of Perea.
Moore left her home that morning, hitchhiking a ride to her job at a local convenience store. She was last seen getting into a red Ford LTD or Galaxy. A search was launched when she failed to show up for work. Her body was found five days later in Genesee Park by pic-knickers. She had been sexually assaulted and was killed by several blows to her head.
A DNA profile was developed in 2011 from semen recovered from Moore’s clothing. The FGG investigation was conducted by Joan Busse of United Data Connect. The investigation in this case took only 90 days.
Perea died at the age of 54 in May of 2012. He was released on bond for a separate violent kidnapping and sex assault when he raped and killed Moore. One of his two living daughters provided a confirmatory DNA sample.
United Data Connect entered into a contract with Denver Metro Crime Stoppers to perform FGG on qualifying cases, of which this was one. Crime Stoppers funded the DNA tests, which cost about $5,000. The actual SNP testing was done at and unnamed lab in Oklahoma.
Sources:
Miller, Blair. “Authorities Announce 1981 Jefferson Co. Cold Case Murder Solved Through Genetic Genealogy Testing.” The Denver Channel, September 10, 2019. Accessed December 26, 2020. https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/authorities-announce-1981-jefferson-co-cold-case-murder-solved-through-genetic-genealogy-testing.
Osborne, Ryan. “A Colorado Teen’s Murder Was Cold For 38 Years. This Cracked the Case in Weeks.” The Denver Channel, September 16, 2019. Accessed December 26, 2020. https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/a-colorado-teens-murder-was-cold-for-38-years-this-cracked-the-case-in-weeks.
Vaughan, Kevin, and Janet Oravetz. “‘God Took Him Before We Got the Chance’: Suspect Identified in 1981 Killing of 18-Year-Old Woman.” NBC 9 News, September 9, 2019, last modified September 10, 2019. Accessed December 26, 2020. https://www.9news.com/article/news/crime/suspect-identified-1981-cold-case-jeannie-moore/73-50e08b29-a417-456d-aeb4-e434bdfe6189.