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The Murder of Anne Pham: DNA Locates Living Suspect
Police have announced 70-year-old Robert John Lanoue has been charged with killing the five-year-old.
In another victory for developing forensic technology, the perpetrator of a murder committed 40 years ago has been tracked down — and he is still alive to face justice for his crime.
Anne’s tragic case
It was the morning of January 21st 1982, and Anne Sang Thi Pham was setting off to walk the three blocks to her kindergarten school in the little town of Seaside in California.
The five-year-old had been escorted by her mother or one of her brothers earlier in the school year, but had begged to be allowed to go by herself and eventually wore down her mother’s protests.
However, she never made it to the school that day. A search was launched, and just 48 hours later came the news everyone had feared. An Army Criminal Investigation Division officer stumbled upon Anne’s lifeless body as he searched the nearby former US Army base Fort Ord for illegal marijuana growth.
Reports suggested she had been sexually assaulted before being strangled to death and dumped in the location, which was just east of Seaside.
