Torrance Police Chief Eve R. Irvine speaks at a press conference in Torrance, Calif., Wednesday, Sep. 11, 2019. Through DNA evidence, the Torrance police department matched a suspect, Jake Brown who is deceased, to the murder of 11-year-old Terri Lynn Hollis in 1972. (Scott Varley/The Orange County Register via AP)
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) - DNA and genetic genealogy led police to solve a cold case and identify a now-deceased man who kidnapped and killed an 11-year-old girl in Southern California nearly 47 years ago, authorities said.
Terri Lynn Hollis disappeared from her Torrance home on Thanksgiving in 1972. Her body, clad only in a T-shirt, was found the next day by fishermen on a cliff below the Pacific Coast Highway in Oxnard.
Authorities exhumed the body of Jake Edward Brown, who died in Arizona in 2003, to confirm that his DNA was a match to the evidence, Irvine said. Brown had been arrested in connection with two rape cases that occurred after Hollis' death.
"This crime is what nightmares are made of, and no family should ever have to go through such a tragedy," Torrance Police Chief Eve Irvine said Wednesday at a news conference.
Randy Hollis, her brother, was 16 at the time and said he still mourns every Thanksgiving.
"When you think about it, 47 years, it's amazing that we've come to this day," he said. "I only wish that my parents were still alive to see this."
For years, efforts to find Hollis' killer were unsuccessful despite 2,000 interviews and DNA searches. In 2018, a genetic genealogy analysis of public databases by Virginia-based Parabon NanoLabs Inc. led authorities to a relative of Brown's. Police were able to identify him in 2019 - which Irvine said would have been impossible if the initial evidence had not been preserved.
Irvine said Brown also went by an alias and had multiple addresses. She said police do not know why he was in Torrance in 1972.
Police are investigating if Brown is linked to other unsolved crimes.
Torrance Police Chief Eve R. Irvine speaks at a press conference in front of a 1972 booking photo of Jake Brown in Torrance on Wednesday, Sep. 11, 2019. Through DNA evidence, the Torrance police department matched a suspect, Jake Brown who is deceased, to the murder of 11-year-old Terri Lynn Hollis in 1972. (Scott Varley/The Orange County Register via AP)
The Associated Press
Terri Lynn Hollis' family listens during a news conference in Torrance, Calif. on Wednesday, Sep. 11, 2019. From left, Jeff Conoway, Terri's sister Tammy Hollis, brother Randy Hollis and his wife Chris Hollis. Through DNA evidence, the Torrance police department matched a suspect, Jake Brown who is deceased, to the murder of 11-year-old Terri Lynn Hollis in 1972. (Scott Varley/The Orange County Register via AP)
The Associated Press
Terri Lynn Hollis' family sits in front of a photo of her during a press conference in Torrance, Calif., on Wednesday, Sep. 11, 2019. From left, Jeff Conoway, Terri's sister Tammy Hollis, brother Randy Hollis and his wife Chris Hollis. Through DNA evidence, the Torrance police department matched a suspect, Jake Brown who is deceased, to the murder of 11-year-old Terri Lynn Hollis in 1972. (Scott Varley/The Orange County Register via AP)
The Associated Press
Torrance, Calif. Police Chief Eve R. Irvine announces the solving of a 1972 murder case in Torrance on Wednesday, Sep. 11, 2019. Through DNA evidence, the Torrance police department matched a suspect, Jake Brown who is deceased, to the murder of 11-year-old Terri Lynn Hollis in 1972. (Scott Varley/The Orange County Register via AP)
The Associated Press
Terri Lynn Hollis' family listens during a press conference in Torrance, Calif., on Wednesday, Sep. 11, 2019. From left, Jeff Conoway, Terri's sister Tammy Hollis, brother Randy Hollis and his wife Chris Hollis. Through DNA evidence, the Torrance police department matched a suspect, Jake Brown who is deceased, to the murder of 11-year-old Terri Lynn Hollis in 1972. (Scott Varley/The Orange County Register via AP)
The Associated Press
Terri Lynn Hollis' brother, Randy Hollis, speaks during a press conference next to Torrance Police Chief Eve R. Irvine, right, in Torrance, Calif.,on Wednesday, Sep. 11, 2019. Through DNA evidence, the Torrance police department matched a suspect, Jake Brown who is deceased, to the murder of 11-year-old Terri Lynn Hollis in 1972. (Scott Varley/The Orange County Register via AP)
The Associated Press
Terri Lynn Hollis' brother, Randy Hollis, speaks to the media following a press conference in Torrance on Wednesday, Sep. 11, 2019. Through DNA evidence, the Torrance police department matched a suspect, Jake Brown who is deceased, to the murder of 11-year-old Terri Lynn Hollis in 1972. (Scott Varley/The Orange County Register via AP)
The Associated Press