Jeffco solves 38-year-old cold case

Genetic genealogical testing helped the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office solve a 38-year-old homicide cold case, and it appears to be the first instance of its kind in the state.


“This is perhaps the first genealogical DNA match in solving a cold case crime in Colorado,” said Jeffco Sheriff Jeff Shrader.

The body of Jeannie Moore, an 18-year-old Denver resident, was found by picnickers in Genesee Park on Aug. 30, 1981, five days after she was declared missing after failing to show up for her job at a Tenneco gas station in Lakewood. Investigators were unable to solve the case at the time, and it ultimately went cold.

On Tuesday, the Jeffco Sheriff’s Office announced that Donald Steven Perea was the man who kidnapped, sexually assaulted and killed Moore. He died of health issues on May 28, 2012 at the age of 54.

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By Deborah Swearingen
Tuesday, September 10, 2019