Pa. State Police’s newest tool for unsolved murders, missing persons: You

Over 35 years, the death of Rose Josephine Hnath has moved from a standard police investigation to one involving science and investigative methods that weren’t available in 1989.

That includes the use of genetic genealogy, which drew national attention in 2018 with the arrest of Joseph DeAngelo, a former cop who was identified as the "Golden State Killer" responsible for 13 murders and more than 50 rapes in California from 1974 to 1986.

DNA left at the scene of Hnath’s murder allowed a profile to be established, and investigators then partnered with Innovative Forensic Investigations, a Virginia-based company that analyzed the profile in various databases in search of a match.

The man at the helm of the Hnath investigation has been Thomas McAndrew, a retired Pennsylvania state trooper and major case investigator for the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office.