Georgia officials: DNA shows trucker killed teen in 1988

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia and federal officials say DNA has identified a deceased truck driver as the man who killed a young woman in 1988 in the state's far northwest corner.

At a news conference Monday at Georgia Bureau of Investigation headquarters in suburban Atlanta, officials said genetic genealogy points to Henry Fredrick “Hoss” Wise as the killer of Stacey Lyn Chahorski.

“The FBI and our entire law enforcement community in Georgia will never give up and we will use every technological advancement we can to seek justice for you and your family," said Keri Farley, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Atlanta office.

“Genealogy DNA proves Henry ‘Hoss’ Wise killed Stacey Chahorski," Farley said.

The remains of Chahorski herself were not identified until March, after being found along Interstate 59 near Rising Fawn, Georgia. She, too, was identified using genetic genealogy, with Farley saying it's the first known case where the technique has been used to identify both a victim and a killer.

With many people taking DNA tests to trace their ancestry, the technique can match unknown people to relatives using genetic materials gathered from even decades-old crime scenes. Investigators can then work from distant relatives to identify particular people.

In this case, the technique allowed investigators to identify both the long-missing Michigan teen and Wise, a truck driver who died after a stunt-driving crash in 1999 at a Myrtle Beach, South Carolina racetrack.

The body of Chahorski was known as the Rising Fawn Jane Doe when it was found in December 1988 along Interstate 59. GBI agents and Dade County investigators tried for years to identify her, drawing composite sketches and making clay renderings. After GBI Special Agent Joe Montgomery took over the case in 2005,...