The ruthless killing of 13-year-old Sarah Ann Geer was a case that had gone cold for 42 years, but Cloverdale police used genetic tests to finally determine and arrest a 62-year-old suspect.
In the Sonoma County city of Cloverdale, some 85 miles north of San Francisco, there was a 1982 murder case of a teenager that had gone cold. Then-13-year-old Sarah Ann Geer was found dead in an alley, haveing been raped, strangled, and killed. The Cloverdale Police Department had a number of suspects, but no leads panned out, and the case went cold for four decades.
But that department reopened the case in 2021. They still had the decades-old semen samples to work with, and more modern “DNA genetic genealogy technology” at their disposal. And with that, SFGate reports the Cloverdale PD arrested 62-year-old James Unick of Willows, California on Monday, and charged him with Geer’s murder.
“Today represents a bittersweet victory for justice,” Cloverdale Police Chief Chris Parker said in a statement. “While nothing can undo the pain inflicted upon the Geer family and our community, we can finally offer some solace in knowing that the perpetrator will be held accountable. This arrest is a testament to the dedication of our law enforcement agencies and the unwavering resolve of Cloverdale’s citizens.”
Per SFGate, Unick had actually been in police custody on an unrelated matter two years after Geer’s killing. In 1985, when he lived in Cloverdale and was 23 years old, he was involved in a hit-and-run, and led police on a high-speed chase before turning himself in and being arrested. It is not clear whether records obtained in that incident helped facilitate this arrest.
Regardless, Unick is now being held without bail in the Sonoma County Jail on charges of murder, rape, kidnapping, and lewd and lascivious acts with a minor under 14 by force. His future court appearances have not been announced.