The family of Kristin O’Connell is asking the public for help as they pursue what they believe could be the best opportunity in decades to solve the 41-year-old murder of the Minnesota college student whose killing in Seneca County remains one of the Finger Lakes’ most enduring cold cases.
In a social media post, Kristin’s mother, Phyllis O’Connell, announced that evidence from her daughter’s case has been preserved and is now ready for advanced DNA testing using technology that was unavailable when the investigation began in 1985.
Kristin O’Connell, 20, of Minnesota, was visiting friends in Ovid when she disappeared on Aug. 14, 1985. She was last seen leaving a party and walking along County Road 139, the road connecting the Golden Buck restaurant to Route 96A.
Her body was discovered the following day in a nearby cornfield. Investigators said she had been stabbed in the chest, her throat had been slashed, and she had been left unclothed.
Despite investigators pursuing more than 2,000 leads over the past four decades, no arrests have ever been made in the case.
To help pay for the new forensic testing, the family has launched a GoFundMe campaign with an initial goal of raising $10,000. O’Connell said additional fundraising may be necessary if further DNA analysis is required.
“Today, I have more hope than I’ve had in a very long time,” O’Connell wrote. “Evidence from Kristin’s case has been carefully preserved and is now ready for advanced DNA testing. This technology wasn’t available in 1985, but today it has the potential to uncover answers that have remained hidden for decades.”
O’Connell said her family has never stopped searching for answers and believes modern forensic technology could finally provide the breakthrough they have been waiting for.
“Asking for help is not easy, but if it means finding the truth about what happened to my daughter, I will do everything I can,” she wrote.
The family is encouraging those who cannot contribute financially to instead share information about the fundraiser to help expand its reach.
“Kristin was a beautiful, kind, vibrant young woman with her whole life ahead of her,” O’Connell wrote. “She deserves justice. Our family deserves answers.”
She concluded her message with a promise she says has guided her through more than four decades of uncertainty.
“I promised Kristin I would never stop fighting for her. Thank you for helping me keep that promise.”
The effort comes as advances in DNA technology continue to help investigators solve cold cases across the country that have remained unsolved for decades.
