IMAGE: Marinette Co. Sheriff
Forty-two years after an unsolved double-murder in Marinette County, Sheriff Jerry Sauve is hoping new DNA science may lead them to the suspect. On July 9th, 1976, 25-year-old David Schuldes and 24-year-old Ellen Matheys were shot and killed while on a camping trip at McClintock Park near Silver Cliff in Marinette County. Matheys was sexually assaulted before she was shot. Even though DNA forensics did not exist in 1976, the investigators at the time did save a semen sample from the victim’s clothing. Sheriff Jerry Sauve says that DNA was put into the national CODIS database in 1996, but so far no match has turned up.
Earlier this year, the Marinette County Sheriff’s Department became aware of a firm, Parabon Nanolabs which can create predictions of a suspect’s appearance based upon DNA. These renderings have been successful in some other cases, and Sheriff Sauve thought it was worth the $4000 cost to make use of this Snapshot technology in this case.
The Snapshot report indicates a high probability the suspect is of Northern and Southern European, is fair-skinned with blue or green eyes, and had reddish brown or black hair. The renderings are posted with this story on our website. It’s also available on the Marinette County Sheriff’s Department Facebook page. Sauve is hoping the public can help lead them to a suspect.
People with any information on the case can also call Crime Stoppers at 800-427-5857.
WAGN/Bay Cities Media