THE 43-year-old mystery of a young girl who was kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and strangled to death has been cracked after new evidence identified the killer.
Officials used DNA testing to determine that 12-year-old Lesia Michell Jackson's killer died in prison years after her tragic 1979 murder left family begging for answers.
The Montgomery County Sheriff's announced their findings yesterday in a statement that ended the decades-long mystery.
Jackson went missing after spending a day in her Conroe neighborhood pool on September 7, 1979.
Her family contacted law enforcement who then conducted an extensive search to locate her, but she wasn't found.
Nearly a week later, her body was tragically recovered in a heavily wooded area by an oilfield worker.
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An autopsy concluded that Jackson was sexually assaulted before she was strangled to death.
An extensive investigation regarding her death was launched and all leads were explored for years until the case went cold.
In October 2021, a new forensic technology called M-Vac was used to analyze evidence that was believed to be Jackson's clothing.
Officials recovered DNA samples and were able to identify an unknown male profile in April 2022, the sheriff's office said.
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The profile was then uploaded into an FBI managed system which found a match to the suspect.
Officials identified Conroe local Gerald Dwight Casey as the suspect, and a brief search for the man took place.
However, it was soon revealed that Casey was dead by execution.
On April 18, 2002, Casey died of lethal injection after he fatally shot a woman in Montgomery County in 1989.
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"This complex and detailed investigation spanning 43 years is the oldest Cold Case Homicide investigated and solved by the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office," the statement reads.
"The tenacity and diligence in solving this case by a dedicated team is a reminder to out public and to those who commit crimes in our communities that we will never cease our efforts to solves the hardest of cases and bring closure to traumatized families."
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