Lillian DeCloe: Florida woman's brutal 1994 murder case solved after 24 years

"Like an episode of 'CSI', a series of breakthroughs led to Lillian's killer, and the first emerged from DNA evidence recovered from Lillian's nightgown," said the sheriff's office in a statement. "The killer left semen on the garment after he sexually assaulted Lillian. From that evidence, BSO's Crime Lab developed a suspect profile." A familial search of the database conducted by authorities with help of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement speed up the process, which involves using a DNA profile to search for close male relatives to the contributor. This led to the identification of a known offender who had spent time in a Florida prison, with an on-record DNA sample, revealed by the sheriff’s office.

The authorities then deduced the known offender to be a possible relative of the DNA contributor in DeCloe’s murder, ultimately leading investigators to Brown. Later in August, the detectives exhumed Brown’s body in order to collect tissue samples from his remains, reports CBS News. It was then found after testing that Brown’s DNNA matched evidence left at the crime scene.

"The results were more than conclusive – the DNA results are 66.8 trillion times more likely that they came from Brown and DeCloe than if they came from DeCloe and another person," said the sheriff's office.

DeCloe’s family struggle for almost three decades finally ended as they wondered all this time, "who could possibly murder this harmless woman, who spent her life as a teacher and nurse, caring for others," as per the sheriff's office. "I know wherever she is, she can sleep in peace," said DeCloe's niece, June Nicholas.