KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In an exclusive interview with the KSHB 41 I-Team, FBI task force members told us they're reopening the nearly 30-year cold case surrounding Diana Ault's murder.
"We look at every little piece that was provided to them back then and just see where it takes us," Jonathan Spaeth, a FBI Violent Crime Task Force agent, said.
They looked at all the physical evidence, determining what could be retested and also what hasn't been tested at all.
"Based on new developments and testing, and in consulting with FBI's forensic laboratory, we submitted new items to them for testing," Spaeth said.
The FBI, of course, is tight-lipped about what those items are. However, we know that Ault was murdered in her Independence home on January 31, 1994.
Police found her abandoned car with the gun investigators believe was used in the murder a half mile away from her house.
"It's complicated with cold cases but there's a lot we can do now that we wouldn't have been able to do 30 years ago," Angela Tanzillo-Swarts, DNA expert, said.
Tanzillo-Swarts is unrelated to the case but has been in the forensic genetics field for more than 20 years. She said finding and testing minute DNA samples partly depends on how law enforcement processed the scenes all those years ago.
"Whether or not did they thought to collect samples from the steering wheel, or the gear shift or door handles, inside or the belt buckles, things like that," Tanzillo-Swarts said. "So, if they did think to preserve that in some way, that type of sample could definitely be tested."
She said the gun, if still available, could also have usable samples but it depends on how many people have handled the gun since it was first collected.
Earlier forms of DNA testing required large samples but now, labs can do multiple tests on traces of biological material.
"You can also look at additional, what we call, bio-markers that can predict a lot of things like what someone might actually look like so their hair color, eye color, skin tone, if they're freckled." Tanzillo-Swarts said.
That method is about 80% accurate, but if investigators have zero leads in a case, bio-markers can provide some information.
Labs are also working with forensic genetic genealogy. Tanzillo-Swarts refers to the Golden State Killer case, where investigators were finally able to crack the case with DNA tracing.
"And that one's exciting because you can use genetic profiles that were developed years before but now we're taking it, we're putting that information into a publicly available genealogy database that people are using to find distant relatives, and using it to find distant relatives of someone who may have been involved in a crime," Tanzillo-Swarts said.
These new advancements have investigators feeling cautiously optimistic.
"We're hoping with the collaboration with the FBI, Independence and the public that we can get this solved," Spaeth said.
To help jog someone's memory, the FBI is putting up eight billboards across the metro.
If you know anything about Ault's murder or if you were in the area at the time and saw something, call 1-800-CALLFBI or submit information at tips.fbi.gov.
The smallest piece of information, even from nearly 30 years ago, can be crucial in the investigation.
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