Using cutting-edge technology, Army investigators are hoping to solve the brutal, 30-year-old murder of a Fort Carson, Colorado, soldier.
Spc. Darlene Krashoc was found March 17, 1987, in the rear parking lot of what was then called the Korean Club Restaurant in Colorado Springs. Krashoc was only 20 years old.
This week, 30 years after Krashoc’s body was found, Army Criminal Investigation Command is offering a $10,000 reward to anyone who can lead them to the man they believe killed the young soldier.
CID on Monday released two photos created using phenotyping technology, which predicts physical appearance and ancestry from unidentified DNA evidence.
At the time of her death, Krashoc was an active-duty soldier stationed at Fort Carson. She was assigned to the 73rd Maintenance Company and was just five months shy of her 21st birthday.
The night before her death, Krashoc went to a local club named Shuffles, located at 1861 South Academy Boulevard in Colorado Springs, with some members of her unit, according to CID. She spent the evening drinking and dancing, and was last seen leaving the club between midnight and 1 a.m.
Her body was discovered several hours later, at 5:30 a.m., by Colorado Springs police officers.
Evidence indicates that Krashoc’s body was placed in the rear parking lot of the Korean Club Restaurant, where she was found, after she was killed, according to CID. The restaurant was just a few blocks away, at 2710 South Academy Boulevard, from Shuffles.
However, after a thorough crime scene examination, collection of evidence and hundreds of interviews, the case went cold, according to CID.
In 2004 and 2011, the investigation was reopened for lab testing, and an unknown DNA profile that genetically types as male was located on several pieces of evidence, according to CID.
Last year, CID special agents and Colorado Springs police submitted 27 pieces of evidence to the CID investigation lab for additional DNA testing. The testing included examining again previously submitted items and evaluating them for phenotyping.
In December, CID sought the services of Parabon NanoLabs, a DNA technology company that specializes in DNA phenotyping. Using available DNA evidence from the investigation, the analysis produced predictions for the suspect’s ancestry, eye color, hair color, skin color, freckling and face shape, according to CID.
By combining their findings, a snapshot composite was produced showing what that suspect may have looked like in his mid-20s as well as his mid-50s.
CID agents noted that the composites are scientific approximations of appearance based on DNA and are not likely to be exact replicas of a person’s appearance.
In addition, factors such as smoking, drinking, diet, facial hair and scars cannot be predicted by DNA analysis.
Army CID and the Colorado Springs police are asking the public to help identify the suspect.
If you have any information about the investigation or if the DNA prediction results resemble someone you know or knew at the time, you’re asked to contact your local CID office or CID headquarters in Virginia at (844) Army CID or (571) 305-4375. You can also email army.CID.crime.tips@mail.mil.
You also may call the Colorado Springs police at (719) 444-7000 or the Pikes Peak area crimes stoppers at (719) 634-7867.
Michelle Tan is the editor of Army Times and Air Force Times. She has covered the military for Military Times since 2005, and has embedded with U.S. troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Haiti, Gabon and the Horn of Africa.
