Washington police say DNA led to arrest for 1987 murders of Victoria couple

The high school sweethearts were on their way to Seattle by ferry to pick up furnace parts for Cook’s father when they disappeared. Their bodies were found in separate locations outside the city days later.

Skagit County Sheriff Will Reichardt said the work detectives did in 1987 documenting the case and storing evidence led them to the arrest.

“It’s been 31 years since this horrific crime took place, today we are one step closer for justice for Jay Cook and Tanya Van Cuylenborg,” he told a news conference.

Talbott was expected to appear for a first court appearance in the Skagit County justice centre on Friday.

Police said DNA collected at the scene of Van Cuylenborg’s murder was used to identify Talbott’s ancestors, which then led them to him. Officers say once genealogists made the connection, police acquired a DNA sample from a cup Talbott had used.

Genetic genealogist CeCe Moore, who worked on the case alongside Virginia-based genetics company Parabon NanoLabs, said she built family trees using people who shared “promising amounts of DNA” with the suspect. Two close matches were found from people who married and produced only one son, said Moore.

Using a process called reverse genealogy where researchers look for living matches that fit DNA profiles, they were led to Talbott, she said.

Van Cuylenborg’s brother, John, said supporting DNA databanks for police purposes should be vital for the general public.

“When you look at the greater good and the benefit to society, I certainly feel that the use of these databanks is entirely appropriate and should make our communities a safer place for everyone to live,” he said.

Snohomish County Sheriff Ty Trenary said the department never gave up hope in their investigation, adding the arrest “shows how powerful it can be to combine new DNA technology with the relentless determination of detectives.”

Police said they believed Talbott was living in Woodinville in 1987 with his parents, about 11 kilometres from where Van Cuylenborg’s body was found.

Her body was discovered Nov. 24, 1987, south of Alger in Skagit County. She had been restrained with zip ties, sexually assaulted and shot in the back of the head. Cook’s body was found two days later under High Bridge off Crescent Lake Road in Monroe. He’d been strangled and asphyxiated.

Police say they are still unsure of a motive or how the victims met the suspect.

Talbott had been working as a truck driver for various companies in the Seattle region for the past 30 years, investigators said.

Cook’s sister, Laura Baanstra, told reporters the arrest brought feelings of joy and sorrow.

“The hole that was left in our hearts will never be filled completely,” she said. “The work done here by all of these incredible, hard-working professionals, both now and 30 years go, has helped make that hole a little smaller.”

The arrest was made five weeks after police released composite photos of a potential suspect created through groundbreaking DNA technology. The images showed a Caucasian man with fair hair and green or hazel eyes, traits that investigators said were connected to the DNA of the person they believed killed the couple.

— By Spencer Harwood in Vancouver.

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Washington police say DNA led to arrest for 1987 murders of Victoria couple

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