NORTH AURORA, Ill. — Suspected 1970s serial killer Bruce Lindahl, who has been dead for decades, has now been identified as the culprit in a 1979 cold case, Illinois authorities 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 Peat said. at a press conference. Halle’s body was found in a river several weeks later, Peat said.

The case remained cold for decades.

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

In 2020, North Aurora detectives working on Halle’s case met with Lisle investigators and the evidence was re-inspected and sent for additional testing, Peat said. While that DNA showed there was a mixture of two individuals, the DNA was too degraded for a working profile, Peat said.

In 2022, North Aurora police learned there was an evidence box of Lindahl’s belongings at the police department in nearby Naperville, Illinois, and that evidence showed Lindahl frequented the Northgate Mall, where Halle worked, Peat said.

Peat said he then researched a new DNA tool: the “M-Vac” wet DNA vacuum, which can help collect DNA from older cases.

In June 2023, North Aurora police took evidence from Halle’s case to DNA Labs International in Florida to be analyzed with the new “M-Vac” tool, Peat said.

In August, police received a report from the lab showing that “DNA approximately 9.4 trillion times more likely to come from Bruce Lindahl was present on Kathy’s clothes,” Peat said.

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

“Lindhal has been connected to several other cases in this area from that time frame,” Peat added.

Lindahl may be responsible for the murders of up to a dozen young women, according to the Associated Press. Lindahl died in 1981, aged 29; accidentally stabbed a major artery in his own leg and bled to death while attacking an 18-year-old in Naperville, the AP said.

“Had he not killed himself during a murder, we would have authorized first-degree murder charges against Bruce Lindahl and gone to trial” for Halle’s case, Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser said.

Halle’s family said in a statement read on their behalf: “While re-examining 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 “Hopefully, other families will not have to endure the same pain and uncertainty that we have faced for so many years.”