The 1999 cold case of Marianne Vaatstra is defrosting in the Netherlands. Marianne was only sixteen years old when she was found murdered. Police arrested many people and even held a large scale DNA search but, the perpetrator was never found.
On September 29, 2012, police began a “DNA relationship testing” in a 5 km radius of the crime scene of approx. 8,000 men. In this study, on a voluntary basis, police studied whether there were people who had a similar chromosomal Y-DNA profile as that of the perpetrator. If so, they could try to find a match with familial DNA to trace the killer.
On November 19, 2012, police announced it had found a match. Arrested was Jasper S., a 45-year-old man who lived 2.5 kilometers from the crime scene. Jasper S. apparently voluntarily gave a DNA sample for testing. In a second study of the sample, it was confirmed that his DNA profile matched the DNA traces found on Marianne’s body.
Peter R. de Vries, a Dutch investigative reporter with his own TV show, dedicated a show to Marianne’s case. It can be seen below.
https://web.archive.org/web/20121127071630/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj7tmKCv0rQ&feature=youtu.be
Peter’s website has the full dossier about Marianne’s case and other Dutch cold cases. His website is of course in Dutch. However, if you first just Google “Peter R. de Vries” than you will see the Google translate option behind his website’s information. It is a very well researched site full of interesting cases and forensics. Above all, it gives you insight in how other countries deal with their cold cases and how they actively engage the public to assist police to find a solution.
*Hat tip to Clouseau for the newsarticles
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