Authorities in Hampden County, Massachusetts have released new composite sketches of a suspect in a 32-year-old cold case murder out of Springfield, using cutting edge DNA technology.
Shana Price was 17 years old when she was found dead in Springfield's Blunt Park on Dec. 26, 1990. She appeared to have been beaten, strangled and sexually assaulted, and her death was ruled a homicide, prosecutors at the Hampden County District Attorney's Office said. A DNA profile was produced from forensic evidence, but law enforcement never found a match to identify a suspect.
Fast forward 32 years, and Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni's office identified Price's cold case as one that could benefit from applying new technology in DNA testing. Prosecutors worked with Parabon NanoLabs to develop a Snapshot DNA analysis of the suspect, using DNA obtained in the investigation.
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The analysis produced a computer-generated sketch using individual prediction's about the man's eye color, hair color, skin color, face shape and more. The two sketches were assigned default ages and BMIs, because those attributes cannot be determined through a DNA sample.
“Shana had her whole life ahead of her before being brutally murdered before turning 18," DA Gullini said during a news conference Wednesday. "My Unresolved Case Unit has identified her case as one that could be advanced by applying modern DNA testing, along with additionally investigative work. Our purpose in releasing these composite sketches is to reignite Shana’s case in the public’s consciousness, and to ask for anyone that may have information relating to her murder to please come forward.”
Anyone with information about the murder is urged to contact the Hampden County District Attorney's Office tip line at 413-432-9881.
