Man arrested in the 1993 cold case killing of 19-year-old Carmen Van Huss

Authorities have made an arrest in a rape and murder case 31 years after the victim was found dead in her apartment.

Dana Shepherd, 52, was arrested Friday morning in Columbia, Missouri and charged in the death of 19-year-old Carmen Van Huss, who was found dead in her apartment in March 1993. 

Police made the arrest after obtaining a DNA swab that allegedly matches the DNA found at the crime scene.

Shepherd has been charged with murder, felony murder and rape, according to a news release from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department or IMPD.

According to officials, IMPD detectives went to Boone County, Missouri to speak to the suspect but he exercised his right to legal representation without speaking with detectives. Shepherd was visibly shaking as he read the warrant for his DNA, investigators wrote in an affidavit.

IMPD’s Deputy Chief Kendale Adams said at a press conference earlier this week that the day was about the victim, Van Huss, not the man arrested in connection to her death.

Their work, he said, “demonstrates the power of science, perseverance and never ending pursuit of the truth."

As of Thursday morning, USA TODAY’s attempts to get comments from Shepherd’s lawyer were unsuccessful. No attorney was listed for Shepherd, according to the Marion County Clerk's Office.

How detectives used DNA to find the suspect

Detectives spent years interviewing people and following up on leads to no avail, then in 2018, an IMPD detective submitted DNA from evidence to a DNA technology company called Parabon to complete an analysis, the release said.  

During summer 2023, detectives used information from the genetic genealogy analysis to identify Shepherd as the suspect in Van Huss’ death, the release said. 

Once the Marion County Forensic Services Agency received DNA samples for traditional forensic testing in June 2024, the agency confirmed that Shepherd’s DNA profile matched DNA samples found at the crime scene.

Suspect faces three separate charges

Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said at the conference that he has thought of the victim’s family and what they’ve dealt with over the past 31 years while the person responsible for her death is walking freely.

Mears recited the three charges that Shepherd faces: murder, felony murder and rape, a Class A felony.

Mears said each charge carries a different penalty. For murder, suspects face 45 to 65 years, while Class A felonies carry 20 to 50 years.

Victim’s family wishes she had been able to graduate, live out her life

The victim’s family spoke at the press conference and said they are grateful for those who helped solve the case. Van Huss is missed by many people, her family said, including cousins who loved her like sisters and an aunt who loved her like a daughter.

Her family members said they are saddened that she wasn’t able to graduate from college or get married. The family hopes that more cases will be solved thanks to DNA and genetic genealogy.

"She wasn't able to experience her college graduation or have a wedding or any life events," Jimmy Van Huss Jr. said of his sister, Carmen. "She was taken from me when I was a freshman in high school and I'm thankful that finally the man that did it is where he needs to be."

Van Huss Jr. recalled his father, James Van Huss Sr., who went to Carmen's apartment back in 1993 after her coworkers notified him she had been missing from work.

"For my dad to have to find his daughter after what was brutally done to her makes this day bittersweet. I wish he was here to see it," Van Huss Jr. said at the news conference Tuesday. His father died years back.

Adams, from the IMPD, said Van Huss is the reason authorities kept pushing forward.

“She’s our why and the reason her family, friends, loved ones and IMPD never stopped looking for answers,” he said. “Today, we finally have some answers.”

More on what happened in March 1993

Just after 7:30 p.m. on March 24, 1993, someone called deputies from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office about an unconscious person, according to an affidavit for probable cause filed by a detective in the county.

Deputies found the victim, Van Huss, deceased and lying on her back, next to a bed. The door to the apartment was found partially open but investigators saw no sign of forced entry, the affidavit read.

Investigators spoke to the victim’s father, who said he last saw Van Huss on March 22, 1993, the affidavit said. She had dropped both her father and her brother off at their home. Two days later, the victim’s father received a call from his daughter’s coworker saying she hadn’t shown up for work at Pizza Hut. 

Her father tried to call to no avail, then went to her apartment to check on her. That’s when he found the front door unlocked and found his daughter lying on the floor, according to the affidavit.

While investigators saw no sign of forced entry, they did see signs of a struggle, including a table that had been knocked over, clothes thrown on the floor and a large pool of blood near the victim’s head. She had multiple puncture wounds to her head, face and body, according to the affidavit. 

Investigators said the assault likely happened in the living room. The person who attacked the victim seemed to have gone into the kitchen to wash himself off, the affidavit said. 

Neighbors say they heard disturbances, screams and crying the night of the attack

Detectives spoke to multiple people who lived near the victim, according to the affidavit filed in Marion County.

One neighbor said that on March 22, 1993, she heard a male and female voice laughing in the hallway around 11:00 p.m. They then went into the apartment, the affidavit said. Later on, between 1:00 a.m. and 1:30 a.m., the neighbor heard a female scream “Get off of me,” the affidavit read.

Another neighbor said they heard “a disturbance” on March 23, 1993, according to the affidavit. Once the sound stopped, the neighbor heard footsteps hurriedly leaving.

Lastly, another neighbor who lived in the apartment directly below the victim said that early in the morning on March 23, 1993, he heard screams and someone crying. He also heard slamming, banging noises and a male arguing for about 30 minutes, the affidavit read.

At the scene, investigators found a white paper sack with blood staining in the kitchen trash can, according to the affidavit.

Parabon, the company doing the DNA analysis testing, contacted the IMPD in June 2023 and said they may know someone related to the person who left the DNA sample. 

Investigators used publicly available information, and social media accounts to determine that the person they were looking for could be related to Shepherd, the affidavit read.

In November 2023, an investigator from the IMPD used online records to find out who was living near the victim in March 1993. They came across Shepherd’s name, according to the affidavit. 

Later, investigators looked at multiple arrest records dating from 1992 to 1996 to confirm he lived in the same complex and at one point, in an adjacent building to the victim’s.

Just two months before Van Huss’ death, the suspect reported that he lived in the same apartment complex. When detectives looked into how close his previous unit was to the victim’s, it took just 30 seconds to get there, the affidavit read.

“Both apartments were connected internally by a shared common area, which included a laundry room,” the affidavit read.

Eventually, DNA from Van Huss’ body matched the DNA profile of Dana Shepherd, the affidavit said.

Shepherd appeared in a Boone County, Missouri courtroom via video call on Wednesday, according to television station WTHR. His bond was denied and the judge set an extradition hearing for Sept. 26.

Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Follow her on Twitter at@SaleenMartin or email her atsdmartin@usatoday.com.