They identify the man who raped and killed a girl 62 years ago, ending one of the oldest unsolved cases in the United States.

Posted: Nov 21, 2021 10:21 GMT

Candice Rogers, 9, disappeared on March 6, 1959 and a few weeks later was found raped and strangled in a forest in the US state of Washington.

The disappearance, rape and murder of Candice Rogers, a 9-year-old American girl, shocked the city of Spokane, in the state of Washington, in 1959. Now, 62 years later, authorities announced that they managed to identify the person responsible thanks to the improvement of DNA technology.

The local police reported this Friday that an analysis of a semen sample preserved from the crime scene, carried out in early 2021, reduced the possible coincidences to three brothers, one of whom is John reigh hoff. His daughter offered a DNA sample to authorities after she learned that her father was the suspect, and the results showed that it was 2.9 million times more likely that “Hoff’s daughter’s DNA was related to that of Hoff’s. shows recovered than that of the general population “, reads the statement.

As the man had already passed away (he committed suicide in 1970), the detectives exhumed his body, without possibility of criminal trial. The DNA obtained from the sample left on Rogers’ clothing at the scene matched that of Hoff, so investigators believe that the killer was ultimately identified.

SPD detectives have solved a cold case murder from 1959. The killing of Candy Rogers, a 9 year old out selling campfire mints, rocked the Spokane community. Join us for a press conference on the case tomorrow – Fri. Nov. 19th – at 10am livestreamed on Facebook. pic.twitter.com/E8ltrVlMLW

– Spokane Police (@SpokanePD) November 19, 2021

What were the facts?

As detailed by the Spokane Police Department, on March 6, 1959 Candy Rogers was selling candy in the West Central neighborhood of the town and was reported missing when she did not return home that same night. Weeks later, her body was found in a forest near her home, and it was determined that the girl had been raped and strangled with a piece of her own clothing. As in the 1950s there was no sex offender registry and the police did not have the current technology, the agents interviewed several suspects but never managed to find the murderer.

Hoff, who was a 20-year-old soldier at the time and stationed at a nearby military base, was initially not a suspect. However, two years after the girl’s death, the young man was convicted of assault in the second degree with intent to rob: he accosted a woman, forcibly removed her clothing, tied her with her own garments and strangled her before fleeing the scene. The victim survived and the culprit spent six months in jail for the attack and was expelled from the Army. Upon his release, he spent the rest of his life as a door-to-door salesman and worked in a lumber yard until he committed suicide at age 31.

“It took the determination of a community, the evolution of technology, and the perseverance of generations of detectives to finally solve the mystery surrounding the horrific murder of Candy Rogers. 62 years later, finally the case can be concluded“, declared the Police.