SLED analyzing DNA in new effort to solve 30-year-old Spartanburg County homicide – Spartanburg Herald Journal

Nearly 30 years ago on April 26, 1992, the body of 26-year-old Ronald Sam Rogers was found next to his red 1985 Chevrolet Camaro at the end of a cul-de-sac at an industrial park in Duncan.

Theplace was known as a "lover's lane."He died of a single gunshot wound behind his left ear, shot at close range by a small-caliber gun, former Spartanburg County Coroner Jim Burnett told the Greenville News at that time.

To this day, the motive remains a mystery and the murder of Rogers remains among46 unsolved homicides dating back decades in Spartanburg Countythat investigators hope to solve with a renewed determination. There is hope now to solve the case because ofrefined DNA analysis technology that was only in its infancy when the crime occurred, Sheriff's Office Investigator Diane Lestage said Wednesday.

She said some evidence in the Rogers case has been sent to the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) for DNA analysis, in hopes of identifying a suspect.

"I do depend a lot on tips from people, especially if they knew or wererelated to the victim," she said. "(In the Rogers case) I still get tips and references."

In 1992, no one knew who would want to kill a young man with so much promise, who "didn't have an enemy in the world," his father Norman Rogers told a Greenville News reporter after the killing. Norman Rogers, who is now deceased, lived across the street from his son at the time of the crime

Ronald Sam Rogers grew up in Oconee County, his sister Ginger Porter told the Herald-Journal in 2013. His mother, Carole Moss, also told the Herald-Journal that Rogers graduated from Tamassee-Salem High School, then moved to Atlanta and enrolled at DeVry Institute.

Rogers then moved back and was attending classes at Greenville Technical College. He had moved into a mobile home onCherry Creek Lane in Wellford and held a job at Digital Equipment Corporation in Greenville.He lived less than 2 miles from where his body was found.

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Moss told the Herald-Journal that investigators found no one who held a "grudge" against her son or had a motive to kill him.

Efforts this past week to reach his sister and mother were unsuccessful.

Sometime late Friday night, April 24, 1992, Rogers left two steaks thawing in the kitchen sink and two pieces of cake in the refrigerator of his home, the Herald-Journal reported in 2013.

All of his bills were ready to mail and a notebook listed all his expenses. Investigators never found his journal or the backpack that he always carried, the newspaper reported.

His body was discovered early in the morning of April 26, 1992, at the end of the cul-de-sac in the Hillside Park of Commerce, an industrial park on Highway 290 in Duncan.

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Sheriff's investigator Alan Wood told the Herald-Journalin 2013 the cul-de-sac at the time of the crime was known as a lover's lane, where underage kids went to drink and people used drugs.

Rogers was last seen talking with an unidentified man at a Dairy Queen that used to be at Truck Stops of America at Highway 290 and Interstate 85, Wood said in the 2013 Herald-Journal article.

Because a few unidentified items were taken, Wood said robbery could have been a motive. Because he was found nude, there may have been a sexual encounter, Wood said.

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In 1992, Sheriff's Office spokesman Mike Little told the Greenville News that deputies discovered a pair of designer swimming trunks about 17 feet in front of Rogersvehicle.

Except for his socks and shoes, Rogers was unclothed, Little said.

Whoever killed Rogers left forensic evidence that was tested shortly after Rogers' death, the Herald-Journal reported in November 2013.

Investigators chased some 80 leads before the case reached a dead-end, according to a 2013 Herald-Journal article.

Lestage said anyone with information about the cold case can contact her at 864-503-4556, or by email at dlestage@spartanburgcounty.org.

Contact Bob Montgomery at bob.montgomery@shj.com

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SLED analyzing DNA in new effort to solve 30-year-old Spartanburg County homicide - Spartanburg Herald Journal