Authorities have identified the man responsible for the 1973 double murder of two teenage sisters from New Jersey vacationing in the Florida Keys, Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay announced Wednesday.
Investigators from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Division and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement used forensic genetic genealogy to identify the suspect as David Allen Snyder, formerly of Key West. Snyder died of natural causes on Oct. 28, 2008, in Mountain View, Idaho, at the age of 57.
In April 1973, Marguerite “Maggie” Jenkins, 18, and her sister Mary Jenkins, 16, traveled to Key West for a vacation. The sisters were last seen hitchhiking on Stock Island on May 2, 1973.
The following day, a resident discovered their bodies in a wooded area roughly 100 yards off U.S. 1 near Mile Marker 99.5 in Key Largo. Both victims had been severely beaten and suffered gunshot wounds. The original investigation produced no suspects.
The breakthrough came after decades of forensic work. In 2018, detectives and FDLE analysts developed additional genetic markers from a partial male DNA profile extracted from a bloodstain on one of the victims’ underwear.
While initial searches of national DNA databases yielded no matches, the FDLE began conducting investigative genetic genealogy and building family trees in 2023.
That genealogical work pointed investigators toward Snyder. Earlier this year, detectives secured a reference DNA sample from one of Snyder’s living relatives.
Analysis at the FDLE crime laboratory confirmed that Snyder was the source of the DNA left at the crime scene. Follow-up records confirmed Snyder lived at several Key West addresses between 1972 and 1974.
“I want to thank the Detectives of our Major Crimes Division for their hard work alongside the FDLE in bringing closure to the family of these two victims,” Sheriff Ramsay said. “This case highlights the importance of our law enforcement partnership with the FDLE and our commitment to solving crimes no matter how long it may take.”
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Article Source: DNA Solves 1973 Florida Keys Double Murder Of New Jersey Sisters – Tampa Free Press