US EditionDNA from cigarette helps identify teenager’s killer nearly 44 years after her death
Advances in genetic genealogy linked James Unick to evidence from 1982, leading to his conviction and life without parole for the rape and murder of Sarah Geer.
- A Sonoma County jury found James Unick, 64, guilty recently of the 1982 murder of Sarah Geer, nearly 44 years later, prosecutors said.
- Investigators enlisted the FBI and used genetic genealogy to narrow suspects to four Unick brothers after the case was reopened in 2021.
- Investigators first developed a 2003 DNA profile from sperm on Sarah's clothing, and the FBI collected a discarded cigarette under surveillance that matched this profile, prosecutors said.
- District Attorney Carla Rodriguez said the verdict is a testament to those who never gave up, and Unick is scheduled to be sentenced on April 23, 2026, offering some closure to Sarah's loved ones and the community.
- Genetic genealogy has helped crack other decades-old crimes since 2018, using publicly accessible genetic databases to build family trees, while a private investigation firm partnered late 2019 to reexamine evidence.
16 Articles
16 Articles
More than four decades after the murder of 13-year-old Sarah Geer, California detectives have found her killer. The mystery of who killed the teenager was solved by DNA analysis of a discarded cigarette butt. Sarah was last seen on the evening of May 23, 1982, as she was leaving a friend's house in Cloverdale. The next morning, a firefighter returning from work found her body. The killer dragged the 13-year-old down the street to a secluded area…
Justice for girl, 13, murdered 44 years ago after cops find DNA on cigarette butt - The Mirror
Sarah Geer was walking into town after leaving a friend’s house in Cloverdale, California, on a spring evening in 1982 when she was dragged down an alley and raped and strangled
DNA from cigarette helps identify teenager’s killer nearly 44 years after her death
Over four decades after a teenager was murdered, DNA found on a discarded cigarette has helped authorities catch her killer. Sarah Geer, 13, was last seen leaving her friend’s house in Cloverdale, California, on the evening of May 23, 1982.
More than four decades after the murder of a teenager in California, the DNA found in a discarded cigarette helped the authorities capture her killer. Sarah Geer, 13 years old, was last seen leaving a friend's house in Cloverdale, California, on the night of May 23, 1982. The next morning, a bomber who was returning home from work found his body, reported the Sponsor's Office of Sonoma County in a communiqué. She had been dragged to an isolated …
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