Man charged in 1986 killing of 12-year-old Tacoma girl
TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A Lakewood man suspected of killing a 12-year-old girl in Tacoma over three decades ago has been charged with murder and rape.
The News Tribune reports Pierce County prosecutors charged 66-year-old Gary Hartman Friday in connection with Michella Welch's death in 1986. She was abducted from a Tacoma park and found dead later that day.
Charging papers say a genealogist used the suspect's DNA sample from the crime scene to build a family tree using public websites, then ran it through a database and received a significant match.
Police say that process led to Hartman and his brother and a DNA sample from Hartman obtained by detectives at a restaurant matched the DNA found on Welch's body.