"Decades-old Indiana cold case of 3 young girls' assault solved through genealogy testing"

After nearly 50 years, genetic genealogy technology has identified Thomas Edward Williams as the suspect in the 1975 assault of three young girls in an Indiana cornfield. The survivors, Kandice Smith, Sheri Rottler Trick, and Kathie Rottler, were bound, stabbed, and left for dead. Williams died in 1983 while in prison in Texas. The investigation was reopened in 2018, and DNA evidence was analyzed and tested, leading to the identification of the suspect. The survivors expressed gratitude for the closure and urged other survivors to never give up.