Investigators attribute the identification of Columbia man Dana Shepherd as a suspect in the cold case to a DNA sample in a genealogy database.

Genealogical research identified a likely suspect, and in March 2023, investigators retrieved the suspect's discarded cup and made a DNA match.

Thanks to advances in DNA technology, a man has received a 20-year prison term for a murder in the Uptown area of Minneapolis more than 40 years ago. Matthew Russell Brown, 67, of Ingleside, Ill., was sentenced Wednesday in Hennepin County District Court after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in connection with the stabbing of Robert A.

As part of a plea deal, in exchange for Matthew Russell Brown pleading guilty to second-degree murder, counts of first-degree murder and first-degree burglary were dismissed at sentencing.