Prince George’s County police said they arrested and charged a North Carolina man this week after using advances in forensic technology to link the suspect to a woman’s 1979 rape and murder in Glenarden.
Authorities said Rodger Zodas Brown, 82, of Pinehurst, North Carolina, was taken into custody on first-degree murder, rape and additional charges in connection to the strangling of 31-year-old Kathryn Donahue of Arlington, Virginia.
“This case serves as a reminder that we will never stop seeking the truth, no matter how much time has passed,” Prince George’s County Police Chief Malik Aziz said Tuesday at a press conference announcing the arrest. “Every unsolved case remains an open investigation.”
A passerby first found Donahue’s remains March 3, 1979, in the 8400 block of Hamlin Street. After a yearslong investigation into her death, the trail eventually went cold.
With improvements to DNA and genetic tracing technology, police said the department’s cold case unit obtained court approval to conduct a genealogy analysis in Donahue’s killing.
The FBI Baltimore Field Office led the intensive probe that involved crafting family trees from publicly available databases. Police said the federal investigators found a relative of the alleged attacker late last year.
Authorities said further analysis allowed them to identify Mr. Brown as the prime suspect in the case. After matching DNA from his trash with samples originally taken from the crime scene, police said they arrested Mr. Brown at his North Carolina home last week.
“With this arrest, justice is being served for Kathy and answers are finally being given to her family,” FBI Baltimore’s special agent in charge William DelBagno said. “Many of her loved ones passed away without ever having this closure, without ever hearing ’We’ve made an arrest in Kathy’s case.’ That ends today.”
The suspect remains behind bars in North Carolina while he awaits extradition back to Maryland.
Police said Mr. Brown was living in Hyattsville at the time of Donahue’s killing. He had previously served time in New York on an armed robbery conviction before his alleged encounter with Donahue.
Authorities said there is no known connection between Mr. Brown and Donahue.
Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy said Mr. Brown faces up to life in prison if convicted of the charges.
