Suspect in cold case of Indiana girls' kidnappings identified as inmate dead since 1983

 Thomas Williams, who died aged 49, was convicted of rape and assault in 1975

A man killed in a Texas prison decades ago has been identified as the man who abducted three Indiana girls and stabbed them to death in a corn field nearly 50 years ago, police said, citing DNA evidence. Had left.

The girls, aged 11, 13 and 14, survived the attack, but the "obvious suspect" was never found and the case remained cold - until now. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said Thursday that investigators using "forensic genetic genealogy" have identified the shooter as Thomas Edward Williams, who died in a Galveston, Texas prison in November 1983 at age 49 .

"Today's announcement has been nearly 50 years in the making, but it reflects the dedication and tenacity of our detectives and partners," Deputy Chief Kendall Adams said in a news release.

Police said Williams lived in Indianapolis at the time of the August 1975 attack, where three girls were abducted while hitchhiking.

They were taken to a corn field in suburban Hancock County, where one of them was raped and stabbed in the neck and chest, and two others had their throats cut, The Indianapolis Star reports. . Two girls signaled a motorist to call for help.

Investigators began reviewing the case in 2018 when three now adult women contacted police about the unsolved attacks, leading to examination of crime scene evidence.

In 2021, police said, officers developed a full DNA profile of an unidentified male from some previously collected evidence, then matched it to two additional DNA profiles obtained from other evidence.

Police said investigators handed the profile over to Florida-based forensic laboratory DNA Labs International last year, where it was subjected to the "latest forensic techniques available."

Police said ancestry analysis helped identify the suspect's children, with samples from Williams' relatives helping confirm his identity as the attacker.

The three women — Sherry Rottler Trick, Kathy Rottler and Candice Smith — told a news conference Thursday how they had been committed to pushing law enforcement to identify their attacker for decades.

"I'm at peace in my heart now," Smith said.

Rottler Trick said he has forgiven the man who attacked him "in order to get on with his life".

The Associated Press generally does not identify victims of sexual assault unless they voluntarily identify themselves.