2 Orange County cold case murders solved using investigative genetic genealogy

SANTA ANA, Calif. - Authorities in Orange County held a press conference Monday to discuss two cold case homicides in the county that have been solved due to the use of investigative genetic genealogy. 

The two cases now closed are the 1987 murder of 23-year-old Shannon Rose Lloyd in Garden Grove and the 1989 murder of 27-year-old Renee Cuevas in Irvine. 

Last year, the Orange County District Attorney's Investigative Genetic Genealogy Team identified a possible suspect, Reuben J. Smith, a Las Vegas man who committed suicide in 1999, officials said. 

Smith's DNA taken during a 1998 arrest in Las Vegas for sexual assault and attempted murder linked him to the crime scenes of both Lloyd and Cuevas' homicides, officials said.

"The advancements in DNA science and the work of the IGG unit has been instrumental in solving our second cold case homicide within the past twelve months," said Garden Grove Police Chief Tom DaRé. "I know with our continued partnership with the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, we will be able to solve many more cold cases and bring closure to the family members of these victims."

According to Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer, four homicides in Orange County have been solved since the advent of IDD. Nationwide, law enforcement has closed 200 cases due to the advancement of this technology, Spitzer added.