After a 30-year long investigation, Indiana State Police identifies the 'I-65 killer'

Several women were killed or sexually assaulted in a string of incidents at motels along the Interstate 65 corridor in Kentucky and Indiana in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Killings in Indiana and Kentucky have been linked to Harry Edward Greenwell

The culprit behind the "I-65" or "Days Inn" murders has been recognized as Harry Edward Greenwell, who died in 2013, according to the Indiana State Police, who noted in a news release that he had a "long criminal background" between 1963 and 1998.

The Indiana State Police revealed on Tuesday that they had linked an Iowa man who died in 2013 to the killings of three female hotel employees and the sexual assault of a fourth in Indiana and Kentucky between 1987 and 1990 using genealogy data and evidence recovered from the crime site.

Vicki Heath was first discovered dead in 1987 in a Super 8 Motel in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. After two years, Margaret "Peggy" Gill and Jeanne Gilbert were killed on separate days in Indiana. Later, in the early 1990s, at the Days Inn in Columbus, Indiana, Jane Doe was sexually attacked.

Detectives use DNA to solve a 30-year-old murder case

These attacks were unsolved for decades as detectives tried to piece together what little information they had to identify the perpetrator. After more than 30 years, they've finally succeeded.

The technique known as ‘investigative genealogy’ was utilized to solve this mystery case. Both the FBI’s Gang Response Investigative Team and the Indiana State Police cooperated to identify the suspect.

The DNA samples gathered at the crime scene were uploaded to a genealogy database to identify any genetic ties and later track down the perpetrator through his family tree. Based on the results obtained through this technique, it was indicated that Greenwell was more than 90% probable of being the perpetrator of the attacks.

The case was ultimately solved with the use of "investigative genealogy" after a 30-year delay, and the police praised it for being a big breakthrough in the case. Major advances in DNA technology have aided their ability to continue to use the method throughout time.