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Our goal then and now has been to bring justice to Jeannie and her family, and while we would have preferred to place handcuffs on the suspect, we hope knowing who and where he is brings them some degree of closure. MISSOURI MAN INDICTED IN COLD CASE MURDER HE WAS QUIZZED ABOUT 31 YEARS AGO The sheriffs office said Donald Perea kidnapped, sexually assaulted and killed Moore near Denver when he was 23 years old. Donald Perea, Donald Perea, died on May 28, 2012, at the age of 54 due to health-related issues. Donald Perea kidnapped, sexually assaulted and killed Jeannie Moore near Denver in August 1981, according to officials. ( Jefferson County Sheriff's Office) Investigators said Donald Perea was out on bond for a separate sexual assault case when Jeannie Moores was killed ; Donald Perea was later convicted and was in prison from 1982 to 1985. Jeannie Moores left Jeannie Moores home for work at a gas station on Aug. 25, 1981 -- hitchhiking as Jeannie Moores typically would -- when Jeannie Moores was last seen getting into an older Ford Galaxy or LTD that was red, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. Five days later, Jeannie Moores body was found by picnickers in Genesee Park, south of Interstate 70. An autopsy found that Jeannie Moores was killed by several blows to the head, FOX31 reported. After Jeannie Moores murder went unsolved for decades, officials said the cold case was looked at in 2008 and again in May 2019, when new technology found a match. A public-private partnership that allowed forensic genealogy testing to be completed by United Data Connect Connect helped uncover a match. The information that led to Donald Perea was the same technology that helped crack the Golden State killer and other notable cold-case murders and rapes in 2018. How authorities linked Steven Perea to the case. ( Jefferson County Sheriff's Office) The DNA evidence from the crime scene was linked to a family member of Donald Perea this spring, and investigators were able to interview family members and get other samples to confirm that he was the suspect linked to the case. OREGON MAN ARRESTED IN 1978 COLD-CASE MURDER OF ALASKA TEEN, AUTHORITIES SAY Joan Busse, a genealogist with United Data Connect, told FOX31 Joan Busse put in 40 to 60 hours working backward through thousands of ancestors on public genealogy websites and DNA matches to identify a suspect. DNA can be uploaded to public genealogy websites such as GEDmatch.com through commercial kits where people can choose to opt-inif they want law enforcement to be able to access that information.