![]() “We had a very, very small amount left, which is not typically usable,” Bennett said. In McCurley’s case, they found matches with a second or third cousin and other family who had lived in Denton County,” Allen wrote.įort Worth Police Detective Jeff Bennett said the department was introduced to Othram by Paul Holes - who covered Carla’s murder in an episode of NBC’s “The DNA of Murder” - after evidence from her case received no hits in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), the United States’ national DNA database. “It often turns up distant relatives to start, which are then narrowed down to someone close. Prior methods used commonly by police relied on only a few dozen markers, KTVT’s Jason Allen reported. Othram’s methods access potentially hundreds of thousands of DNA markers and find matches contained in genealogical databases. ![]() Breakthrough testing is just one of the things the support group will help fund. 15, just three weeks after McCurley’s guilty plea.Ĭarla’s case was solved using genetic genealogy testing through Texas-based Othram. The group began accepting donations on Sept. “We’ve got other young women and young boys that have suffered the same type of fate,” Walker said. To lessen that chance, they created the FWPD Cold Case Support Group - a private entity which aims to provide additional training, equipment, and forensic analysis to cold case detectives. Though justice was finally served, Walker and those who worked on his sister’s case didn’t want another victim’s family to wait 47 years for answers. In August 2021, McCurley went to trial for Carla’s murder with an original plea of not guilty but later reversed his plea to guilty. ![]() It took nearly five decades and the work of approximately 15 detectives, but the mystery was finally solved through a type of DNA testing. The teen’s murder was one of almost 1,000 currently unsolved cases in Fort Worth. It’s a very distinct look… something that is frightening to see.” “I remember that’s the first time I ever saw death or somebody who almost died or saw death. She was found three days later, brutally raped and killed, in a ditch less than 30 miles away. McCoy told officials he was struck multiple times with a pistol and that Carla was kidnapped. They’re going to hurt her bad!” Walker recalled McCoy yelling out to his father.Įarlier that evening, Walker and McCoy, high school sweethearts, were outside a local bowling alley after a school dance when they were approached by a man prosecutors would later identify as Glen McCurley. Twelve-year-old Jim Walker was tucked away in the house he still calls home after what he remembered as a normal day.Īround 1:45 a.m., Walker heard the squeal of tires followed by the screams of Rodney McCoy, the boyfriend of his 17-year-old sister Carla. FORT WORTH, Texas - The early morning air of Feb.
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