The murder of Carol Sue Klaber
Walton, Boone County, Kentucky · 1976
Overview
Carol Sue Klaber, 16, a junior at Dixie Heights High School in northern Kentucky, was last seen on June 4, 1976 after getting into a car near Devou Park; her body was found the next day in a roadside ditch on Chambers Road in Walton, Boone County. She had died of blunt force trauma with evidence of strangulation and sexual assault. The case stayed cold for nearly 47 years until the Boone County Sheriff's Office Cold Case Unit, working with the Houston-area forensic lab Othram and funding from Season of Justice, used forensic-grade genome sequencing and genetic genealogy to identify the killer as Thomas W. Dunaway, who was 19 at the time and lived about a mile and a half from Klaber's home. Dunaway died in 1990 at age 33, so he was never charged, but on March 8, 2023 authorities announced the case solved and the Commonwealth's Attorney said the evidence would have been sufficient to convict him.
How it was solved
A DNA extract developed from the 1976 crime scene, including biological evidence preserved over the decades, was held by the Kentucky State Police Central Forensic Center. In September 2022 the Boone County Sheriff's Office partnered with Othram, a Houston-area laboratory that uses a technique called forensic-grade genome sequencing on degraded samples, with the testing funded by the nonprofit Season of Justice. Othram built a comprehensive DNA profile for the unknown male suspect, and its in-house genealogy team used forensic genetic genealogy to build out family trees and produce investigative leads that were returned to detectives Coy Cox and Tim Adams. The leads pointed to Thomas W. Dunaway, a local man who had resembled a 1970s suspect sketch, lived near where Klaber was last seen, and drove a vehicle similar to the one she had been seen entering. Because Dunaway had died in 1990, investigators obtained a confirmatory DNA comparison through a living relative, reported as a parent-child match to his daughter, and his remains were later exhumed so a sample could be submitted to the state lab and national database.
Sources
- Suspect in the Assault & Murder of Carol Klaber is Identified
“The suspect is identified as Thomas W. Dunaway originally of Park Hills, Kentucky. He was 19 years old when he brutally murdered Ms. Klaber in 1976.”
- Cold murder case of Kentucky teen from 1976 is solved, authorities say
“Detectives were able to positively identify the suspect in the teen's murder as Thomas W. Dunaway. Dunaway, who was 19 years old when the murder took place, had an extensive and violent criminal history over the years and died in 1990 at the age of 33.”
- Cold Case Murder Of Kentucky Teenager Solved Almost 5 Decades Later
“16-year-old Carol Sue Klaber was found in a roadside ditch on June 5, 1976. Authorities used genetic genealogy to finally identify her killer.”
- Boone County investigators solve 1976 cold case using genealogical DNA
“For some unknown reason, Klaber got in Dunaway's car. We may never know that reason. ... if Thomas Dunaway were still alive, I believe there now exists sufficient evidence to prove that he murdered Carol Sue Klaber beyond a reasonable doubt.”
- Kentucky Police Crack Carol Klaber Murder-Rape Cold Case After 45 Years
“Dunaway enlisted in the U.S. Army on June 14, 1976, one week after Klaber's murder; he later murdered Ronnie Townsend in December 1976 and served prison time, being released in 1984.”
- Boone County Sheriff's Dept. closes decades-old murder case of Carol Sue Klaber
“So for 46 years, we were looking all over and the answer was a mile and a half away from her residence. ... Dunaway's remains were exhumed to submit DNA to the Kentucky State Police lab and the national database.”
- Boone County Sheriff's Office cracks 46-year-old cold case of murdered teen
“The initial cause of death was blunt force trauma with also evidence of sexual assault and strangulation.”