A 19-year-old girl disappeared from her town in Illinois in 1979. Almost half a century later, the case has been solved

() – Nearly 50 years after the unsolved murder of a 19-year-old girl who disappeared from her Illinois town, authorities have identified her killer through new DNA testing.

In March 1979, Kathy Halle disappeared while on her way to pick up her sister from a nearby shopping center in North Aurora, according to local authorities.

Police initially investigated the case as a missing person, but three weeks later, Halle’s body was discovered in the Fox River, Ryan Peat, a detective with the North Aurora Police Department, said during a news conference Wednesday.

After years of investigation, authorities determined there was not enough evidence to identify a suspect and the case went cold.

It wasn’t until 2020 that authorities revisited the case after linking the DNA of Bruce Lindhal, a suspected serial killer who committed suicide in 1981, to the murder of another woman named Pamela Maurer, Peat said.

North Aurora authorities used new forensic technologies to connect DNA evidence found on Halle’s clothing to Lindhal’s DNA collected while solving the Maurer case.

“Lindhal has been connected to several other cases in this area from that time period,” Peat said. “With this new evidence, along with evidence from similar cases involving Lindhal, we can conclude that Lindhal was responsible for the death of Kathy Halle.”

Authorities now believe Lindhal, who often went to the mall where Halle worked, kidnapped the victim from the parking lot of her apartment complex and took her to the area where her body was later discovered.

“While reviewing this case has been incredibly difficult, we are deeply grateful to finally have closure after 45 long years,” read a statement from Halle’s family read during the news conference. “Thanks to advances in DNA technologies and innovative tools, we are hopeful that other families will not have to endure the same pain and uncertainty we faced for so many years.”