DNA solves teen's 1974 murder

By Dominique Debucquoy-Dodley, CNN

updated 9:17 AM EDT, Wed September 26, 2012

Canadian teenager Colleen MacMillen disappeared while hitchhiking in 1974.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) -- DNA evidence links a now-dead American convict to the murder of a Canadian teenager who disappeared in 1974, authorities in British Columbia said Tuesday.

Bobby Jack Fowler, who died in an Oregon prison in 2006, is responsible for the murder of 16-year-old Colleen MacMillen, Inspector Gary Shinkaruk of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said at a news conference.

Authorities said while the case is closed on MacMillen's death, investigations continue into the abductions and killings of other women in the same region of Canada, and the search is still on for information in those cases.

"Today's announcement and public plea for assistance is a significant milestone in our commitment to solving a series of missing and murdered women investigations in British Columbia," said Deputy Commissioner Craig Callens, commanding officer of the RCMP in British Columbia.

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On August 9, 1974, MacMillen disappeared near Highway 97 in Lac La Hache, British Columbia, according to Shinkaruk. She was found dead 47 kilometers (about 29 miles) south of her last known location.

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DNA solves teen's 1974 murder