INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A man who died in a Texas prison decades ago has been identified as the person who abducted and stabbed three Indiana girls and left them in a cornfield nearly 50 years ago, police said, citing DNA evidence.
The girls, ages 11, 13 and 14, survived the attack, but “a clear suspect” was never pinpointed and the case went cold — until now.
At the time of the August 1975 attack, police said Williams lived in Indianapolis near where the three girls were abducted while hitchhiking.
Investigators submitted the profile last year to DNA Labs International, a Florida-based forensic laboratory, where it was subjected to “the latest forensic technology available,” police said.
After ancestry analysis helped identify the suspect's children, samples from Williams’ relatives helped confirm his identification as the attacker, police said.
Persons:
”, Thomas Edward Williams, “, Kendale Adams, Williams, Williams ’, — Sheri Rottler, Kathie Rottler, Kandice Smith —, ” Smith, Rottler
Organizations:
INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, Indianapolis Star, DNA Labs, Associated Press
Locations:
Texas, Galveston , Texas, Indianapolis, Hancock County, Florida