Accused serial killer Bruce Lindahl has been identified as the suspect in the 1979 slaying of Cathy Halle, Illinois authorities have announced

NORTH AURORA, IL — Suspected 1970s serial killer Bruce Lindahl, who has been dead for decades, has now been identified as the perpetrator of a 1979 unsolved murder, authorities in Illinois announced Wednesday.

On March 29, 1979, 19-year-old Kathy Halle left her apartment to pick up her sister at the Northgate Mall in Aurora but never arrived, North Aurora police Detective Ryan Peet said at a news conference. Holly’s body was found in the river a few weeks later, Peet said.

The case stood in the cold for decades.

In 2019, police in nearby Lyles, Illinois, reopened the 1976 slaying of 16-year-old Pamela Maurer and used DNA to link Lindahl to the killing, Peet said.

In 2020, North Aurora detectives who worked on Holly’s case met with Lisle investigators and the evidence was re-examined and sent for more testing, Peet said. While that DNA showed there was a mixture of the two individuals, the DNA was too degraded for a working profile, Peet said.

In 2022, North Aurora police learned there was a box of Lindahl’s belongings at the police department in nearby Naperville, Illinois, and that evidence suggested Lindahl frequented the Northgate mall where Holly worked, Peet said.

Pete said he then looked into a new DNA tool: the “M-Vac” DNA wet-vacuum, which can help collect DNA from old cases.

In June 2023, North Aurora police sent evidence in the Holly case to DNA Labs International in Florida for analysis with the new “M-Vac” tool, Peet said.

In August of this year, police received a lab report that showed “Bruce Lindahl’s DNA, believed to be from Bruce Lindahl, was present on Katie’s clothing,” Pete said.

“We can conclude that Lindahl is responsible for the death of Kathy Halle,” Peet said, adding that police believe Holly was abducted from the parking lot of her apartment complex.

“Lindal has been involved in several other cases in the area since then,” Pete added.

According to the Associated Press, Lindahl may be responsible for the murders of up to a dozen young women. Lindahl died in 1981 at the age of 29; He accidentally punctured a major artery in his own leg and bled to death while attacking an 18-year-old man in Naperville, the AP reported.

“Had he not taken his own life during the murder, we would have charged Bruce Lindahl with first-degree murder and gone to trial” in the Holly case, Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser said.

In a statement read on their behalf, Holly’s family said: “While reviewing this case has been incredibly difficult for our family, we are deeply grateful to finally have closure after 45 long years. Thanks to advances in DNA technology and innovative investigative tools, we “I hope that other families will not have to endure the same pain and uncertainty that we have faced for so many years.”