Man arrested 50 years after Minneapolis woman's killing in Dunn County, Wisconsin
Mary Schlais.
SPRING BROOK TOWNSHIP, Wis. (FOX 9) - Fifty years after a Minneapolis woman was killed, an 84-year-old man was arrested thanks to genetic genealogy testing.
What we know
Mary K. Schlais, 25, was found dead near the intersection of 408th Avenue and 990th Street in Spring Brook Township in Dunn County, Wisconsin, on Feb. 15, 1974.
She was hitchhiking from Minneapolis to an art show in Chicago. Three witnesses saw a suspect and a suspect vehicle that were believed to be connected to Schlais' killing, the Dunn County Sheriff's Office said.
The investigation
There were many "tips, leads and interviews" over the next several decades related to Schlais' killing, officials said.
As DNA technology developed, evidence was examined and reexamined, but no viable suspects were identified. But in recent years, the Dunn County Sheriff's Office began working with Ramapo College in Mahwah, New Jersey, and a team of genetic genealogists. Through their investigative genetic genealogy, they identified a suspect.
The suspect
Investigators arrested an 84-year-old Owatonna, Minnesota, man in connection to the killing of Schlais. He is in custody and is awaiting extradition to Wisconsin.