BOISE, Idaho — In the morning hours of Tuesday, October 13, 1987, police found the lifeless body of 65-year-old Joyce Casper in her vehicle near Day Drive and Robert Street.
The owner of the nearby Casper's Vista Hallmark Shop had been sexually assaulted and murdered.
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Almost 36 years later, the Boise Police Department announced that they have confirmed that Frank A Rodriguez was responsible for the murder. Rodriguez died in 2007.
Two weeks before her murder, Casper had reported a man, suspected to be between 17 and 25 years old, attempted to assault her in her store. Police were unable to locate or identify the suspect in the assault or in the murder.
After several attempts over the years by the BPD Violent Crimes Unit and Special Victims Unit to identify the suspect with DNA collected from the scene, efforts finally paid off.
"In a homicide case we are speaking for a victim who can't," said Detective Paul Jagosh "so that gives us that motivation to get out there and work and dig."
Using new technology to identify the genealogical family tree, authorities between 2019 and 2023 conducted interviews and arranged for DNA tests with probable relatives to narrow down the family tree. All evidence pointed toward Rodriguez.
Investigators then met with family members of Rodriguez and collected DNA swabs, enabling them to confirm Rodriguez as the person responsible for Casper's murder.
The news came as a huge relief for many including Lance Anderson, who was the original lead investigator on the case in 1987. "I had 27 years in the violent crimes unit, no case had the same impact," said Anderson.
BPD is currently working with other law enforcement agencies around the country to see if Rodriguez is connected to any other unsolved investigations.
