DNA match leads to arrest in 1999 Alabama slaying, rape case

DOTHAN, Ala. (AP) — Authorities in Alabama say a DNA match found through a genealogy website has led to an arrest in decades-old slaying and rape case.

Al.com reports 45-year-old Coley McCraney, of Dothan, was arrested Saturday and charged with rape and capital murder in the 1999 deaths of 17-year-olds Tracie Hawlett and J.B. Beasley. Ozark police and Dale County sheriff’s officials are scheduled to hold a press conference about the case on Monday.

The girls left Dothan the night of July 3, 1999, to attend a party, but they never arrived. The pair was found the next day in the trunk of Beasley’s car alongside a road in Ozark, each with a gunshot wound to the head.

A different suspect was cleared after his DNA didn’t match that from semen found on Beasley.

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Information from: The Birmingham News, http://www.al.com/birminghamnews