Killer of Georgia woman who vanished in 1989 is identified 33 years later through genetic DNA profile
More than three decades after Stacey Lyn Chahorski was reported missing in 1989, investigators finally identified her killer
Georgia Investigators have solved a 33-year-old cold murder case with the help of genealogy DNA.
More than three decades after Stacey Lyn Chahorski was reported missing in January 1989, investigators with Georgia’s Dade County determined she was killed by stunt driver Henry Fredrick “Hoss” Wise, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the FBI announced on Tuesday.
The body of Chahorski was found last December near I-59, but it was not until earlier this year that the remains were positively identified, ABC News reported. Wise was killed in a car crash at the Myrtle Beach Speedway in South Carolina in 1999.
DNA from the crime scene was also used by scientists who created a genetic profile of a suspect. Authorities then obtained DNA from surviving relatives of Wise to confirm he was the killer, investigators announced during a press conference on Tuesday.
“This case is key because it’s the first time that we know of that investigative genealogy was used to identify both the victim and the killer in the same case,” FBI Special Agent in Atlanta Keri Farley said.
“She was just a free spirit. She liked to travel,” special agent Joe Montgomery told The New York Times.
“She was hitchhiking, even though her mother warned her against doing that. She wanted to see parts of the country.”
The remains of Chahorski, of Norton Shores, Michigan, were found in an unmarked grave. Bodily fluids, now determined to be Wise’s, were found near the body.
“Investigators found what was believed to be the killer’s DNA at the scene,” Mr Farley said, “but for years it could not be linked to the person.”
The DNA was sent to the laboratory Othram, which identified Chahorski through the genetic profile.
The FBI joined the investigation after Chahorski’s body was identified on 24 March and with the help of the other agencies working in the case launched a genealogy DNA analysis with the help of relatives of Wise.
Wise, who regularly drove the I-59, had a long criminal history for assault and theft but the charges predated DNA testing for felonies.
Mr Farley commended the work of law enforcement in successfully finding closure for Chahorski’s family.
“The determination of agents in both the FBI and GBI, along with every officer who worked this case for 33 plus years, helped bring this case to its conclusion,” she said.