A family now has closure 33 years after their loved one was found dead in California because authorities were able to use DNA and forensic evidence to find her killer, officials announced Tuesday.

The remains of the victim, 42-year-old Danielle Clause, were found on July 16, 1991 near downtown Ventura, about 70 miles northwest of Los Angeles. 

The victim was found partially unclothed with multiple blunt force injuries, Retired Lt. Douglas Auldridge, who originally worked on the case, said in a video released by the police department. She was last seen the night of July 15, 1991 speaking to a male driving a small white pickup truck with pinstripes. 

She had also been sexually assaulted, the Ventura Police Department said in a news release. 

She was reported missing the next day by her husband, who said she never came home that night.

“We tend to over collect evidence because you just don't know what would be important later on in the investigation that could lead to a breakthrough,” Auldridge said, adding that investigators collected fingerprints, cigarette butts, trash, papers, rocks and anything else that looks “disturbed.”

They also canvassed the area looking for a white truck that matched the suspect’s vehicle description. 

“Once we investigated every avenue available at the time, the case was suspended and considered cold,” Auldridge said. “When the case went cold, it lay dormant for over 25 years before being re-examined by officer Tyler Buck.

Detectives retested crime scene evidence from the case in 2021, then used forensic genetic genealogy to create a family tree for the suspect. They identified her killer as Larry Devon Welch, who died in 1999.

“There was no known connection between Welch and Clause at the time of her murder,” police said.

Officer found untested evidence

Buck said when he first found out about Clause’s case, the file was over 1,000 pages long. He studied the case hoping to find something previous investigators missed. 

“I could see that retired detective Doug Auldridge and his team at the time did a great job documenting the scene, gathering evidence,” Buck said in the police department’s video. 

The DNA sample from the case was entered into CODIS, a national database of DNA profiles from convicted offenders, unsolved crime scene evidence and missing people. However, there were never any hits, Buck said.

He reached out to the crime scene investigations team and looked through the evidence. They learned the murder weapon, a rock, and the victim's fingernail clippings had never been tested.

After a series of meetings, investigators requested in May 2021 that the evidence be tested to compare DNA on the rock and the fingernail clippings to the DNA from the sexual assault kit, said Forensic Specialist Gabrielle Wimer.

“This test would either confirm or deny that our murder suspect and the rape suspect were one of the same,” she said in the video. “By September 2021, all the DNA came back as a match to one unknown suspect.”

The team knew it needed to use modern methods such as familial genealogy to solve the case, which can be expensive, Wimer said, adding that they reached out to multiple agencies to connect the dots.

First cousin of suspect offered DNA, family tree

Senior Forensic Genealogist Misty Gillis sent the DNA sample to another agency, Gene by Gene, which specializes in biotechnology and genetic testing, Wimer said. 

“Once the genetic profile was built, Misty uploaded it to all the genealogy databases like AncestryDNA, 23andMe, MyHeritage DNA, FamilyTreeDNA and many more,” Wimer said.

“By July 2022, our genealogists built out part of the family tree of our suspect.”

They were able to find a living family member who had an interest in familial genealogy. She had already built a family tree herself. Investigators went to connect with her in San Diego, where she gave them a breakdown of her family tree and a DNA sample. 

“Through her DNA sample analysis, we learned that she was a first cousin match,” Wimer said in the police department’s video. “This is a huge breakthrough for us. In revisiting her family tree, we knew she only had two male first cousins and our search was narrowed even further.”

Now, investigators were focused on those two cousins: Welch and his brother. Only one brother was alive. He lived in Virginia.

“At this point, we're kind of at a standstill on how to proceed,” Wimer said. “We didn't have the staffing or the resources available to send two of our detectives out of state to sit and obtain a surreptitious DNA sample.”

Continuing the investigation with limited resources

In October 2023, a cold case sexual assault unit in Ventura further developed a profile on both Welch brothers to help figure out which one may have committed the crime, Erik Nasarenko, Ventura County District Attorney, said in the video.

“We learned that Larry Welch, the deceased brother, had brown hair and hazel eyes while the living brother had blonde hair and blue eyes,” Nasarenko said. “This analysis revealed with a high degree of confidence that the suspect had brown or green eyes and brown hair consistent with the appearance of Larry Welch.”

Still investigators needed DNA from his living brother to confirm he was not the suspect. Virginia State Police helped connect with Welch’s brother, who was “very helpful,” the district attorney said.

His brother gave investigators information about Welch’s life and gave them a sample of his own DNA. Virginia State Police tested his DNA and ruled him out as a suspect in the victim’s case.

“Further, they established that the living brother was a full sibling of the suspect,” Nasarenko said. “This result confirmed that the suspect DNA found at the crime scene belonged to Larry Welch.”

Other factors tying the suspect to the crime

Wimer, the forensic specialist, said Welsh owned a white Ford Ranger, had a P.O. box in Ventura the year Clause died, was seen with her around that time and was seen by another witness in the area where her body was found. 

Wimer was able to speak to Clause’s sister, Marcie Forte, who said she remembers going to see her sister’s remains.

“I remember she was so badly beaten that she was unrecognizable and I didn’t want my mother to see her like that,” Forte said in the police department’s video. “I always prayed … that I’d be able to know who did this … My prayers were answered.”

She said her sister was “so much more than a victim of a brutal murder.”

“She was a good person with a mighty soul, and she was taken way, way too young,” her sister said.

Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Follow her on Twitter at@SaleenMartin or email her at[email protected].