He was a police officer who convicted the murderer of an eight-year-old after 66 years

Almost 66 years after the kidnapping and murder of a little girl in Chicago, US special investigators have solved the case. With the help of modern DNA methods that were not yet available at the time, a police officer at the time was convicted as the perpetrator, US media reports, citing law enforcement authorities.

On November 12, 1960, a Saturday, an eight-year-old girl was walking to church in Chicago, according to the Chicago Tribune. But she never got there. Hours later, a delivery person discovered her body in a ditch outside the city. The girl was killed with two shots in the head, it was said.

Traces could not be assigned at that time

The investigators found, among other things, a bullet casing and fingerprints on the strap of the girl's handbag and the Bible. But they couldn't assign the tracks to anyone. The case became a cold case despite numerous interviews and ballistics tests.

According to reports, the investigators achieved the breakthrough with the help of the Federal Police FBI in the summer of this year after a DNA comparison - the investigators assigned the traces to a former police officer who later worked as a homicide detective in Chicago. He was 24 years old at the time and lived near the victim.

Perpetrator escaped punishment and died in Las Vegas

But the man was never held accountable: he died in Las Vegas in 2006 at the age of 70, as NBC News reported. He moved there after his retirement.

The murdered girl's brother told the Chicago Tribune: "The only thing that goes through my mind is that he was able to live a decent life before he died. He never atone for his actions. One can only hope that he will atone for them before the good Lord."