GREAT FALLS — Last month, the Cascade County Sheriff’s Office announced the closure of a 65-year-old cold case, believed to be the oldest in the nation.
On January 3, 1956, the bodies of 18-year-old Dwayne Bogle and 16-year-old Patty Kalitzke were found face-down, miles apart, with bullet wounds to their heads. Detectives with the Cascade County Sheriff Office worked the case tirelessly, finding more than 35 suspects who all turned out to be unlikely suspects in the case.
In 2019, Detective Sgt. John Kadner of the Sheriff's Office decided to try something. He sent in a piece of preserved evidence, a vaginal slide taken during Kalitzke’s autopsy, to a laboratory that returned the sample with a piece of discovered DNA.
“[The lab] was able to swab that slide and identify sperm samples, which ultimately led to a DNA sample, which was fed into a genealogical database, and that was able to identify three known test-takers,” said Sgt. Kadner.
Through the use of forensic genetic genealogy, they say Kenneth Gould is the most likely suspect in the rape and murder of Kalitzke and the murder of Bogle (click here for details).
From the New York Times to CBS News, from Inside Edition to NPR, the closure of the case involving the murders garnered plenty of media attention. It’s not just making news in the United States. An Ireland-produced series called Bloodline Detectives has picked up the story.
“Bloodline Detectives is a series hosted by Nancy Grace primarily of cold cases that have been solved using genetic genealogy,” explained producer Kathryn Milofsky.
The true-crime documentary series is produced by Peninsula Television for FilmRise.
The Sheriff’s Office believes Kenneth Gould is the most likely suspect in the murder of 18-year-old Duane Bogle and the murder and rape of 16-year-old Patricia Kalitzke. A preserved vaginal swab taken from Kalitzke’s body eventually led to Gould through the use of genetic genealogy.
“All they need to do, if the individual is dead, they can go to family members like mother, father, brother, sister and ascertain a familial link to the murderer,” said Milofsky. “It is a game-changer for law enforcement.”
Milofsky was in Great Falls recently to interview key figures in the investigation, including Sheriff Jesse Slaughter, Kadner, and retired detective Phil Matteson.
Milofsky estimates the episode featuring the Great Falls case will air in a couple months.
Bloodline Detectives is seen across the US and Europe, including Saturday nights at 8:00 p.m. on CW Montana.
