Nearly 25 Years After Boyle Heights Teen’s Slaying, DNA Leads To Arrest
LAPPL News Watch
October 22, 2020
Nearly 25 years after a Boyle Heights teenager was brutally beaten
and sexually assaulted, authorities say they have identified the man who
killed her and dumped her body in a ravine.
The partially clothed body
of Gladys Arellano was discovered Jan. 30, 1996, in Topanga Canyon.
An
autopsy concluded the 17-year-old had been sexually assaulted, beaten
and strangled.
On Monday, prosecutors
charged Jose Luis Garcia, 42, with murder in the girl’s death. He was
19 when the crime occurred.
When Gladys’ body was found, DNA taken as
evidence was uploaded into state and federal databases. No match to her
killer was identified at the time, and the case remained unsolved for
decades.
There are about 15,000 unsolved cold case homicides in Los
Angeles County, according to sheriff’s Lt. Hugo Reynaga, and
investigators got a break in Gladys’ case last year.
On Nov. 10, Garcia
was arrested by Los Angeles police on suspicion of domestic assault.
During his booking, Garcia’s DNA was collected and uploaded into a state
database. It matched the sample from the 1996 slaying, and Los Angeles
County sheriff’s detectives in the homicide bureau’s unsolved cases unit
were alerted.
No comments:
Post a Comment