Nephew’s DNA helps close cold-case murder of 15-year-old aunt killed seven years before his birth
The nephew of a cold-case murder victim, born seven years after her gruesome 1976 slaying, helped put her accused killer behind bars.
Louis Colon Jr. told the Daily News how his DNA sample, sent to multiple ancestry websites, led to a recent call from Pennsylvania State Police and the Wednesday arrest of long-sought murder suspect Luis Sierra, 63, of Queens.
“He lived his whole adult life thinking he got away with it,” said Colon, 37, of Houston. “Little did he know that her future nephew (who) never met her would upload his DNA, and that would lead to his arrest.”
Cops said the match between the nephew’s sample and DNA from 15-year-old murder victim Evelyn Colon’s femur eventually steered them to Sierra, who disappeared after the slaying only five days before Christmas 1976. The victim, buried in a grave marked Beth Doe, remained unidentified for the next 44 years.
Sierra, the married father of two, was busted on a homicide charge at his Ozone Park home for the horrifying slaying of his teen girlfriend. The girl’s dismembered body, along with the fetus of her unborn daughter, was found beneath an interstate highway overpass on the banks of the Lehigh River on Dec. 20, 1976.
Queens man arrested in brutal 1976 strangling and dismemberment of pregnant teen girlfriend
“The whole thing is just incredible,” said Colon. “All the twists and turns. All of our family is distraught. It’s been traumatizing.”
The arrest brought back the grim details of the killing, with the pregnant teen strangled, dismembered and packed into three suitcases before her remains were tossed by the murderer, authorities said. Sierra went on with his life as if nothing happened, with his current neighbors shocked by word of his arrest.
Colon recalled a letter sent to his family a month after the disappearance, with the victim supposedly explaining that she was living in Connecticut with her newborn son Luis Jr. Investigators determined the victim was likely not the person who wrote and sent the message intended to quell any family concerns.
“The letter indicated that if Evelyn needed anything, she would contact the family,” said an affidavit detailing the arrest of Sierra.
Court papers detailing the killing said the victim was decapitated and had her arms, legs, nose and ears cut off. For the family, the arrest marked the end of decades mourning the lost teen and the baby who died with her, who they have now named Emily Grace Colon.
“It’s overwhelming,” said the victim’s niece Miriam Colon Vetlman, 33. “Her memory was always very present in our family ... Our DNA is hers. It’s crazy. It’s amazing. How is it possible?”
