NAPERVILLE: A 76-year-old Minnesota person was arrested in the stabbing death of a 15-year-old suburban Chicago girl almost half a century before, police said Friday.
The Naperville Police Department detained Barry Lee Whelpley of Mounds View, Minnesota, on Wednesday for the 1972 slaying of Julie Ann Hanson.
The retired welder, who was 27 at the time of the killing, was charged with murder and has been taken into custody at Minnesota, where he’s awaiting extradition to Illinois.
It was not clear whether he’s got an lawyer.
The woman was reported missing July 8, 1972, after last being seen drifting away from her house on a bike.
Her body was found later that afternoon in a field in Naperville.
She was stabbed 36 days and sexually attacked, researchers said at the moment.
No suspects were promptly diagnosed and Naperville Police Chief Robert Marshall explained during the years people suspects that were diagnosed were”all removed throughout the thorough analysis of their detectives.” The breakthrough in the case came via technological progress in DNA and genetic genealogy investigation, police stated.
From this came the scientific proof which led into Whelpley, a 1964 graduate of Naperville High School who resided about a mile out of the woman’s house in the right time of this killing.
“This dreadful crime has haunted that household, this neighborhood and this section for 49 decades,” Marshall explained.
“The analysis and consequent charges were really a group effort which spanned decades, and I couldn’t be pleased with this decision and resourcefulness of the researchers, both present and past, that never gave up Julie.” Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow reported that detectives, that continued to operate the situation through time, remained in contact with the woman’s family.
Finallythey had the ability to”offer them exactly what they have been hoping for all the decades,” he explained.
And in a the press conference, Marshall see an announcement where the household given its gratitude.
“As you may assume, it’s been a very long trip for our loved ones,.
We’re eternally grateful to those who have worked within this event throughout the years”