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Julie Ann Hanson’s body was found in a cornfield near 87th Street and Modaff Road almost 50 years ago, on July 8, 1972.
Investigators said she had been sexually assaulted and stabbed 36 times. She was last seen leaving her home on a bike, police said.
Naperville Police Chief Robert Marshall and Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow said a 76-year-old Minnesota man had been arrested and charged in connection with the crime.
“Our department never in five decades gave up looking for Julie’s killer,” Marshall said.
Officials said the suspect was found using genealogy and DNA evidence but would not elaborate on the exact process used.
The man was a 27-year-old Naperville resident at the time of the crime and was working as a welder, officials said.
“We have lived these crimes,” Glasgow said.
Marshall said Friday Hanson had borrowed her brother’s bike to go to a baseball game that July day, but she never made it. She was reported missing, and her bike was found on a gravel road near Knoch Knolls Road and 87th the next day. Then officers found her body.
Last year, Naperville officials announced that they had checked the DNA from Bruce Lindahl, who died while fatally stabbing another in Naperville in 1981, but that he was not a positive match for the Hanson case.
Lindahl’s murder of Pamela Maurer of Woodridge in 1976 was similar to that of Hanson, so officials wanted to compare just in case, as authorities said Lindahl had multiple victims.
This is a developing story; check back with to get more updates
Source: ABC7 Chicago
