"A nearly 50-year-old San Francisco cold case has come to a close after a Colorado man was found guilty this week of killing a teenager visiting San Francisco back in 1978, according to the San Francisco District Attorney's Office. Fifteen-year-old Marissa Harvey was visiting her sister when she went missing on March 27, 1978, after saying she was going to Golden Gate Park. A day later, Harvey's body was found at Sutro Heights Park, with signs she had been sexually assaulted."
"It took 21 more years before SFPD's cold case division was able to use that DNA to identify a suspect via investigative genealogy and homed in on Mark Personette. In a joint operation with the FBI, law enforcement surveilled Personette in Denver, where he lived, and watched as he discarded trash about 15 miles from his home. They then used that trash to obtain his DNA and found it was a match for the DNA found on Harvey's clothing and the gum at the scene."
Marissa Harvey, age 15, went missing on March 27, 1978 after saying she was going to Golden Gate Park; her body was found the next day at Sutro Heights Park with evidence of sexual assault and death by strangulation. The San Francisco Police Department initially investigated but the case went cold. In 2000, investigators extracted DNA from Harvey's clothing and chewing gum found on her. Twenty-one years later, SFPD's cold case division used investigative genealogy to identify Mark Personette. A joint FBI operation in Denver collected Personette's discarded trash, obtained his DNA, and matched it to the evidence. Additional items found included 1970s maps and California license plates; another woman testified about a later sexual assault by Personette. District Attorney Brooke Jenkins thanked the survivor and the victim's family. Personette, now 80, was found guilty of murder.
Read at SFGATE
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