On September 18, 2001, an unknown male kidnapped and raped a 7-year-old girl who was walking to school with her 8-year-old brother in Greeley, Colorado. The case has been cleared by exception due to the death of Zamora.
Zamora forced the girl into his vehicle, and took her to a secluded area where he sexually assaulted her. She escaped and sought assistance at the nearby Air National Guard station at a nearby airport.
The FGG investigation was conducted by Parabon, which had performed forensic phenotyping of the suspect’s DNA in February of 2020. When this produced no leads, Parabon then performed a genealogical analysis, leading then to identify Jaime Zamora as a potential suspect.
Zamora passed away in 2014 in Wellington, Colorado. The final confirmation was made with tissue samples kept on file after his autopsy. Zamora, then 26-years-old, had been living in Greeley and working at a local sandwich shop at the time of the assault.
Sources:
Laxen, Jacob. “2001 Greeley Kidnapping Cold Case Solved.” Townsquare NOCO, February 10, 2021. Accessed February 12, 2021. https://townsquarenoco.com/2001-greeley-kidnapping-cold-case-solved/.
Reid, Trevor. “Greeley Police Solve 2001 Child Kidnapping, Sex Assault After DNA Research Leads to a Match.” Greeley Tribune, February 10, 2021. Accessed February 12, 2021. https://www.greeleytribune.com/2021/02/10/greeley-police-solve-2001-child-kidnapping-sex-assault-after-dna-research-leads-to-a-match/.
Web Staff. “Greeley Cold Case Solved with Snapshot DNA Tech.” Fox 31 News 2 Denver, February 9, 2021. Accessed February 12, 2021. https://kdvr.com/news/local/greeley-cold-case-solved-with-snapshot-dna-tech/.