DNA Genealogy Solves 30-Year-Old Murder of 8-Year-Old
John D. Miller arrested in April Tinsley case after genetic genealogist uses family trees and public databases to crack cold case
In April 1988, 8-year-old April Tinsley vanished while walking to a neighbor's house in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Three days later, her body was found in a ditch. She had been raped and strangled. For three decades, her killer remained unknown—until DNA evidence and cutting-edge genealogy techniques finally identified the perpetrator.
John D. Miller was arrested at age 59, decades after the crime. Upon arrest, police reported that Miller confessed to raping and strangling April Tinsley. His conviction followed, bringing closure to a case that had haunted Fort Wayne for generations.
The DNA Evidence
The breakthrough hinged on biological evidence recovered from April's body and from a series of threatening notes sent to police. Remarkably, sixteen years after the murder, the killer had taunted investigators by mailing notes containing his DNA. This audacious act inadvertently provided the key to his eventual capture.
