Dead man ID'd as suspect in 1980 rape-murder of 20-year-old woman in Santee

SAN DIEGO - After more than 40 years of chasing dead-end leads, detectives announced today they believe they have identified the assailant who

raped and murdered a young Santee woman in her home at the outset of the 1980s.

A relatively recent discipline focusing on tracing family lineages that can lead to criminal suspects allowed investigators to link DNA evidence

collected at the scene of 20-year-old Michelle Wyatt's slaying to the apparent perpetrator -- a onetime neighbor who died 17 years ago, according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department.

The breakthrough determined that the new...