A breakthrough in DNA technology has led to the arrest of an 84-year-old man in connection with a cold-case murder that had remained unsolved for 50 years.
Jon K. Miller, from Owatonna, Minnesota, was arrested on November 7 in connection with the 1974 murder of Mary K. Schlais, whose body was found near a Wisconsin intersection in Dunn County.
Schlais, originally from Minneapolis, had been hitchhiking to an art show in Chicago when she was murdered.
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Police initially had a witness who described a suspect and vehicle near the scene, but despite a series of interviews and tips, no viable suspect was identified.
The case went cold for decades until recent advancements in DNA testing and investigative genetic genealogy—techniques that analyze DNA to trace distant family connections—finally pointed to Miller as a suspect.
According to the Dunn County Sheriff’s Office, the breakthrough came after police collaborated with genetic genealogists from Ramapo College in New Jersey.
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Sheriff Kevin Bygd called the arrest a “huge victory” for the department. He explained that solving the case was particularly challenging due to the fact that Miller had been adopted, making his genealogy harder to trace.
“It takes a lot more work,” Bygd said, acknowledging the efforts of the investigative team. “We were able to sit down with him and let him confirm his involvement in her homicide yesterday.”
Miller is currently in custody and awaiting extradition back to Wisconsin, where he will face charges in connection with Schlais’s death. It is unclear if he has legal representation at this time.
This case marks the first time the Dunn County Sheriff’s Office has used genetic genealogy to solve a crime.
The sheriff expressed his excitement about the breakthrough, recalling how he received the news while hunting.
“I had a difficult time controlling my excitement,” he said, reflecting on the long journey to solve the case.
