DNA used to come up with sketch of suspect wanted in murder near Innerkip from 1988
Posted Aug 28, 2018 04:07:00 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
NEWS RELEASE
ONTARIO PROVINCIAL POLICE
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Members of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) are going high-tech to try to solve a brutal 1988 homicide.
In the afternoon of Friday, September 16, 1988, the body of Thera DIELEMAN was found in her Innerkip-area home on Oxford Road 29 in Blandford-Blenheim Township. The post mortem revealed that the 80-year-old widow had been beaten and strangled but had put up a fight, potentially causing injuries to her attacker.
At a news conference today, OPP Detective Superintendent Ken LEPPERT and Superintendent Catherine YEANDLE-SLATER – Director of Support for OPP West Region – unveiled new images created from DNA recovered from the murder scene with a goal of providing resolution to DIELEMAN's family. Parabon Nano Labs – a DNA technology company – was contracted to create one composite sketch of what the killer may have looked like in 1988 and a second, 'present day' likeness in an effort to reduce the current field of potential suspects and elicit new information from the public. Police continue trying to locate the person or persons who would have been driving a flatbed farm truck seen in the driveway of the DIELEMAN home. The truck was described by witnesses as red in colour with white lettering on the doors, dual rear wheels, and a black headboard protector behind the cab.
A $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Thera DIELEMAN's killer remains on offer. Police urge those with information to call a dedicated tip line toll-free at 1-844-677-9414, or – to remain anonymous – call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).
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