Using DNA evidence, authorities with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said they have arrested a Texas man in connection with the rape and killing of a Boyle Heights teen whose body was found in Topanga Canyon more than two decades ago.
Gladys Arellano’s body was found at the bottom of a ravine in Topanga Canyon on Jan. 30, 1996. The 17-year-old had been brutally beaten, raped and strangled to death, the Sheriff’s Department reported.
Forensic specialists conducted an exhaustive search of the scene, collecting several items of DNA evidence, authorities said.
But after an extensive investigation, detectives still were unable to identify a suspect.
Although a DNA profile had been developed for the suspect and uploaded into the state and federal criminal databases, there were no matches, officials said. The case went cold.
Then, last November, the Los Angeles Police Department collected a DNA sample from a man who was in custody on suspicion of domestic assault, officials said.
The DNA was sent to the state’s databank for analysis and results identified Jose Luis Garcia, 42, of Dallas, Texas as the probable suspect, the Sheriff’s Department said.
After matching Garcia’s DNA with a sample from Arellano’s body, deputies obtained a warrant for his arrest, officials said.
Garcia was arrested by U.S. Marshals in Dallas on Sept. 29 and was extradited to California on Oct. 14, the Sheriff’s Department said.
The suspect was arraigned on murder charges at the Van Nuys Courthouse Monday.