KTVN Channel 2 - Reno Tahoe News Weather, Video - Police: Denison's Killer not in DNA Backlog, Search Goes On...
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In about a month's time the DNA samples of nearly 3,000 convicted felons were tested with high hopes that one held the DNA of Brianna Denison's killer.
Unfortunately, that did not happen. "Review of those samples did not end up in a positive result in hitting on any major homicide case," says Washoe County Sheriff Mike Haley.
Meantime, Reno police are still collecting voluntary DNA samples from people in the area of the kidnapping and others who interest them.
"The people we're talking to have been really cooperative," says Reno Police Commander Jon Catalano, "they realize that the more people we can eliminate from consideration, the better we can narrow our focus."
Checking the backlog eliminated 3,000 convicts.
However, four area homicide cases remain unsolved: the double murder of Al and Joan Musalo in their Montreux home in 2006, the killing of 28-year-old Kyla Annan in 2004 and the stabbing of 68-year-old Mevin Gordon in 2002.
Despite the dead ends, the recent DNA results did provide some hits. "We did though hit on 30 other cases that involve our region."
It's results Brianna's family calls bittersweet. "Of course I would have loved for it to have been Brianna's predator but at least they have some other leads that they can go on for other things."
The biggest hit was linking an offender to a serious sexual assault case committed back in 2005. Reno police say the offender in this case is currently behind bars for another crime and they're determined to keep it that way. "We will reopen that case and move forward in prosecution against him."
As for the rest of the results, crime lab workers say they mostly consist of burglaries.
And even though police know the identity of the suspect thanks to this DNA testing, it doesn't necessarily mean they know where they are at this point in time. "An offender could still be incarcerated with the Department of Corrections or under supervision with Parole and Probation or walking the streets."
