A 19-year-old was raped and murdered inside her apartment over 30 years ago. Genetic genealogy finally led to a suspect

A Missouri man has been charged with the rape and murder of a woman more than 30 years after her body was found in her Indianapolis home.

Investigators say genetic genealogy led to the arrest of Dana Shepherd, 52, on August 20, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department announced on Tuesday.

He’s facing two counts of murder and one count of rape in the fatal stabbing of 19-year-old Carmen Van Huss, who was found dead in her apartment on March 24, 1993, according to the news release.

When Van Huss missed work at Pizza Hut, her co-worker alerted her father and he went to her apartment where he found her body and signs of a struggle, WTHR reported. She had been stabbed 61 times, according to the Marion County Coroner’s Office,

Over the years, detectives interviewed dozens of people and followed up on hundreds of leads, but the case went cold.

Then in 2018, a detective submitted a DNA sample to Parabon NanoLabs, a genetic genealogy company, which conducted an analysis that included DNA phenotyping and genetic genealogy.

Five years later, through various investigative methods and information from the genetic genealogy analysis, detectives were able to identify Dana Shepherd as a suspect in the case.

In 2024, after obtaining DNA samples for traditional forensic testing, the Marion County Forensic Services Agency notified Unsolved Homicide Unit detectives that Shepherd’s DNA profile matched DNA samples found at the scene and on Van Huss’ body.

At the press conference on Tuesday, deputy police Chief Kendale Adams told reporters that authorities in Boone County, Missouri, surveilled Shepherd and took him into custody.

Detectives attempted to speak with Shepherd, but he refused to talk without legal representation.

Shepherd lived at the same apartment complex as Carmen in 1993, and the units were connected by a shared common area, including a laundry room, according to court documents viewed by WTHR .

He is listed as an employee of the University of Missouri, where he works as a custodian, according to university records, WTHR reported.

Shepherd is being held without bond at the Boone County Jail in Missouri. A hearing will be held in the coming days as prosecutors seek his extradition back to Indiana.

“For 31 years, the family of Carmen Van Huss has been searching for answers and justice," Adams said on Tuesday. "While nothing can ever replace their loved one, we hope that today’s arrest brings them some measure of peace."

Van Huss’ brother Jimmy Van Huss, who was a freshman in high school when his sister was killed, spoke out at the Tuesday news conference.

“My sister was a beautiful, 19-year-old art student at IUPUI,” he said. “She was an art lover, an animal lover, she picked up stray cats all the time. We were really getting close and spending more time together because I was now a freshman in high school and our six-year age difference was not as prominent. She was always happy and everyone loved her.”

Jimmy said there are a lot of people who have missed Carmen over the years.

“She had a lot of family, a lot of friends. She had cousins that loved her like a sister. She had an aunt and uncle that loved her like a daughter,” he said. “For my dad to have to find his daughter after what was brutally done to her makes this day bittersweet. I wish he was here to see it.”