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“Jennifer Watkins” was murdered in 1999. Her murder case is solved using DNA

The DNA helped decipher the unsolved murder case of a woman found on a staircase in a Colorado hospital 21 years ago.

In November 1999, Jennifer Watkins, 23, was working as a nutritionist at Colorado Springs Memorial Hospital. She got the job two weeks before her death.

Watkins reportedly disappeared before her shift ended. A few days later, the police found her body wrapped in plastic on the stairs and tied with duct tape. Police said she was raped.

Suspect Identified

Detectives in the unsolved case with the Colorado Springs Police Department announced a breakthrough Wednesday. They said DNA from the crime scene uploaded to a public genealogy website led to the identification of Ricky Severt as the woman’s killer.

But Severt, who was working in the Memorial’s maintenance department at the time of the murder, will not be responsible for the crime.

In 2001, he allegedly died in a car accident near Colorado Springs at the age of 31.

“After all these years, we are grateful to finally be able to give Jennifer Watkins’ family the answers they deserve,” said Vince Niski, Colorado Springs Police Chief.

He said the open-minded investigators who worked on the case never lost sight of what was most important: finding the truth for the Watkins family.

As part of the first murder investigation shortly after Watkins’ discovery, detectives interviewed Severt.

The man said he was working a shift the day Watkins disappeared and had never seen her, police said.

Fox 31 Colorado Springs reported that Watkins’ husband was considered a possible suspect, but police said they ruled him out while the investigation continued. He was interrogated several times and fully cooperated.