State police have uncovered a murder case since 1980

MERSER, Pennsylvania (KDKA) – The Pennsylvania Police Criminal Investigation Unit announced on Wednesday the closure of a cold case since 1980.

Using DNA analysis and other methods, they identified the victim of the murder of Edwin Rodriguez and his killer Nestor Quintanal.

Mercer County Attorney Peter Acker reviewed the case and said charges of murder would have been filed, but Quintanal died in Florida in 2002 at the age of 71.

On November 6, 1980, the body was found burned near I-80 in the town of Wolf Creek. After the autopsy, the body could not be identified due to third-degree burns on 70 percent of his body, but it was found to be a man aged 16 to 19, weighing 115 pounds and 5’8 “tall.

Advances in technology and funding helped further the investigation in 2007, when a DNA profile was obtained from the victim using evidence gathered during the 1980 autopsy.

Then, in January 2019, the victim’s DNA was sent to a lab to test for genealogical genealogy.

The cousin of the deceased has been identified. They managed to identify the victim as Rodriguez, a native of Chicago.

Further investigation determined that the killer was Quintan. Quintonal was a friend of the family, and they moved from Chicago to Florida in the fall of 1980.

After they left, Rodriguez’s family never heard from him again.

Rodriguez’s remains were returned to his family in Chicago – officially closing the case.