(WSVN) - A South Florida cold case dating back more than five decades has finally been solved.
Investigators said they identified the man responsible for the murders of two young sisters in the Florida Keys.
On Wednesday, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office announced that David Allen Snyder, a former Key West resident, was linked to the 1973 crime through DNA evidence.
MCSO Major Crime Detectives and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement say Snyder killed 18-year-old Marguerite “Maggie” Jenkins and 16-year-old Mary Jenkins.
The sisters traveled to Key West from New Jersey for vacation and were last seen hitchhiking on Stock Island on May 2, 1973.
Since their deaths, their family has been haunted by lingering questions.
In 2007, the sisters’ brother-in-law, Duane Barlow, recalled their personalities in an interview with 7News.
“Their interests were boys, making money, and they wanted to travel,” he said.
The sisters’ bodies were found in a wooded area off US-1 and Key Largo on May 3, 1973.
At the time, investigators said both of them had been severely beaten and appeared to have been shot.
“Each had multiple injuries. The primary cause of death was gunshot wounds to each girl. One was stripped of her clothing. Another had some of her clothing pulled up to her chest. They were in the woods, covered with sticks and leaves and dirt, basically dumped like garbage in the woods,” said a detective.
For decades, the murders remained unsolved, but investigators kept working with the evidence to crack the case.
In 2018, investigators developed additional markers from a partial male DNA profile obtained from a bloodstain found on one of the victim’s underwear. The profile was updated in the National DNA Database, but no match was found.
In 2023, detectives turned to genetic genealogy and built a family tree from the DNA evidence, eventually identifying Snyder as a possible match.
This year, DNA obtained from one of Snyder’s relatives confirmed the connection, authorities said.
Snyder, however, will not be able to face charges as he died of natural causes in Idaho in 2008 at the age of 57.
For Maggie and Mary’s family, the identification finally provides answers to a mystery that remained unsolved for five decades.
A specialized laboratory in Texas analyzed the DNA evidence that helped crack the case. The lab said this case is the 66th publicly announced case in Florida in which the technology has been used to help identify a suspect.
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