An unsolved 1974 murder in Wisconsin finally has an arrest, thanks to DNA genealogy—an 84-year-old man is now facing justice.
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MENOMONIE, WI
– A shocking break in a nearly 50-year-old
Wisconsin
cold case has led to the arrest of 84-year-old Jon Miller, a
Minnesota
resident, for the murder of a young artist found stabbed along a rural highway in 1974. The Dunn County Sheriff’s Office, leveraging genetic genealogy technology, identified Miller as the prime suspect in the decades-old case of Mary Schlais, whose brutal killing remained unsolved for decades.
A Cold Case Frozen in Time: The Tragic Death of Mary Schlais
In February 1974, Schlais was last seen leaving her Minneapolis home, reportedly hitchhiking toward Chicago for an art show. Authorities believe the trip ended in tragedy along a stretch of road in Dunn County, Wisconsin, about 75 miles from Minneapolis, where her body was discovered. With no immediate leads and limited evidence, the case grew cold despite a stocking cap found at the scene containing hair samples.
Back in the 1970s, DNA evidence was far from the tool it is today. Even with advances, investigators struggled when the hair from the scene yielded no matches in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). For years, Schlais’s case remained in limbo—until the sheriff’s office took an innovative approach to crack the case.
DNA and Genealogy: The Breakthrough That Changed Everything
In 2023, Dunn County authorities teamed up with Ramapo College of New Jersey to apply genetic genealogy to the old DNA samples. Unlike traditional forensic methods, genetic genealogy compares crime scene DNA to DNA voluntarily uploaded to public ancestry databases, searching for possible family connections that may not be found in law enforcement databases.
That fall, the investigation took a promising turn when a potential family line linked to the DNA surfaced. This led detectives to Wyoming, where they interviewed a family member, only to find he wasn’t a match. Their search then led to another possible connection—a cousin in Michigan. Unfortunately, that individual also proved not to be a match, putting detectives back at square one.
Just as hope began to wane, investigators considered an alternative possibility: Could the suspect have been an adopted family member, possibly unknown to immediate relatives? This theory gained momentum when another relative agreed to submit a DNA sample, and the results pointed to Jon Miller, who had indeed been adopted. According to law enforcement, Miller’s DNA was confirmed on November 4 as matching evidence from the crime scene.
An Arrest at Last: Justice for Mary Schlais
Miller’s arrest came soon after at his residence in Owatonna, Minnesota. During a press conference, authorities shared that when officers knocked on Miller’s door, he immediately seemed aware of the reason for their visit. “Miller did inform us that as soon as he had opened the door, he knew why we were there,” officials said.
For decades, the 1974 case of Mary Schlais haunted her family and friends, a mystery seemingly without end. Now, with Miller in custody, justice may finally be within reach, proving that time and science together can bring resolution, even after nearly half a century.
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Crime
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Wisconsin
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Minnesota
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