A former Marine has been arrested on suspicion of killing a woman in 1976 and dumping her body near a Southern California military base.
KABC-TV says 66-year-old Eddie Lee Anderson was arrested on suspicion of murder last week at his home in River Ridge, Louisiana.
It's unclear whether he has an attorney.
Orange County sheriff's investigators say they used genealogical DNA to link Anderson to the death of 30-year-old Leslie Penrod Harris.
Anderson voluntarily provided a DNA sample to investigators who traveled to New Orleans, Louisiana on May 23, according to a press release.
He was arrested and taken to the Plaquemines Parish Sheriff’s Office while extradition proceedings are ongoing.
“Through both traditional DNA and genealogical DNA, we now have the opportunity to solve decades-old cases that would have otherwise been left unsolved,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer, said in a press release. “These victims and their families have been waiting for justice for decades, and the addition of genealogical DNA is now helping us to advance our efforts to achieve justice for crime victims.”
Harris had gone to dinner with her husband at a Costa Mesa restaurant but left alone and never returned home. Her body was later found on a roadway near Marine Corps Air Station El Toro in Irvine. She had been strangled.
Anderson was stationed at the base at the time.
Andrea Scott is editor of Marine Corps Times.
