MESA, AZ (AZFamily) — Thousands of unsolved homicides across Arizona remain open, leaving families searching for answers decades later. Now, an emerging forensic tool could help change that, beginning with a Mesa cold case that has gone unsolved for nearly 40 years.
When investigators collect DNA, cotton swabs are typically used across a surface. But when evidence involves porous items such as clothing or bedsheets, traditional swabbing can fail to retrieve cells trapped deep inside the fabric.
Mesa police detectives are now utilizing a wet-vacuum collection tool known as the M-Vac to gather DNA from physical evidence in the 1988 murder of 26-year-old Loretta Lynn.
The 1988 homicide
On June 14, 1988, an intruder attacked Lynn inside her Mesa home. Police said someone pried open the front door and stabbed her multiple times…