| 3/10/2009 11:23:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article |
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| Tim Hack and Kelly Drew |
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DNA profile of suspect found
1980 Hack-Drew murders
By Ryan Whisner
Regional Editor
JEFFERSON - Analysts at the Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory have established a DNA profile of a suspect in the 1980 murders of Timothy Hack and Kelly Drew.
Hack, of Hebron, and Drew, of Fort Atkinson, both 19, were leaving a wedding reception at the Concord House on Aug. 9, 1980, when they apparently were abducted. For 72 days, officials and volunteers conducted what has been described as the largest manhunt in Jefferson County's history.
Their bodies were found at the edge of the woods off Hustisford Road in the Town of Ixonia. In the 29 years since, more than 100 suspects have been investigated and thousands of leads pursued, but their killer - or killers - has never been found.
Kicking off a series of reports about cold cases under investigation at the state level, WMTV 15 (NBC 15 in Madison) on Monday night featured a special assignment story on the Hack-Drew murders.
The latest break in the case was revealed to be the DNA profile established by the state analysts.
Jefferson County Sheriff's Department Detective Chad Garcia said that evidence recovered in 1980 was resubmitted to the State Crime Lab in 2007.
"Based on that evidence, they were able to establish a DNA profile of a suspect," Garcia said.
During the 72-day search for the two teenagers, various pieces of evidence were recovered. The pants Kelly had been wearing were found nearby on County Highway B, between Farmington and Johnson Creek, but they were not identified until the truck driver who had spotted them alongside the road heard about the disappearance and matched the clothing with the description the families had given. Her purse also was found in the area, near County Highway P.
Eventually, much of the teenagers' clothing showed up, most of it in ditches. One of Tim's shoes was found in a hay bale that had traveled from Jefferson County to Central Wisconsin.
Their bodies were found at the edge of the woods and in a field off Hustisford Road in the Town of Ixonia. The bodies were too badly decomposed to determine the cause of death.
Garcia said there is some evidence to suggest how one of the two might have died, but it is not conclusive. He declined to reveal what that was, or what piece of evidence was utilized to develop the DNA profile of the suspect.
Now, it remains up to investigators to narrow the scope of the investigation.
Even now, although nearly three decades have passed, the investigation is considered ongoing, labeled as a cold case file. Through the years, there always has been a sheriff's office case agent assigned to the murders who can assess any new information that becomes available.
Thanks to a $500,000 grant received in October through the U.S. Department of Justice, the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation "cold case" unit now is offering its resources to pursue leads in the Jefferson County case.
State investigators were involved with the Hack-Drew murder investigation in 1980, and then again in 2004. Numerous pieces of evidence have been reviewed and reanalyzed over the years.
As new technology became available, Garcia said the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department has taken advantage and attempted to narrow the scope of finding a suspect.
With an agent dedicated to the case, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department and the Hack and Drew families remain optimistic of the possiblity of actually finding the culprit who is responsible.
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