A 30-year-old cold case in the United States has been solved after investigators discovered a DNA match. The Seaside Fire & Police Department announced on Facebook on Monday (July 31) that a suspect in the 1991 murder of a 34-year-old woman has died.
The case involves the violent death of Vicki Johnson, whose body was discovered in a park near Darwin Street and H Place in Seaside by detectives in January 1991. Police stated she was strangled and her corpse was burnt at the time.
Johnson was murdered in Seaside on January 3, and her corpse was discovered near a playground in the city’s Sabado Park neighborhood. The case was the reason that the community was designated as unsafe.
Authorities said, “Ms. Johnson’s death shocked the Seaside community due to the details of the brutality. For decades, the case remained cold and left Seaside with a reputation of a violent and unsafe community.”
Suspect identified in the murder of Ms. Johnson
Johnson’s case was “one of many” reopened by the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office when the cold case task force was formed, according to Seaside Fire and Police.
After submitting further evidence to the California Department of Justice for DNA testing, investigators stated they had identified a suspect in connection with the murder.
This led to the arrest of the murder suspect, Frank Lewis McClure, who died in 2021 at the age of 77. According to the officials, their relationship is unknown.
The official statement mentioned that evidence clearly demonstrates “Johnson put up an incredibly physical battle against McClure and fought until the last moments of her life”.
“McClure left significant DNA underneath Ms. Johnson’s fingernails, which could only be a result of Ms. Johnson fighting vigorously for her life. The motive for her murder is still unclear. We do know McClure had a history of violence before his passing,” the statement added.