California cold case murder reopened after 46 years

Detectives have reopened the investigation into a decades-old unsolved killing of a teenage boy near Santa Barbara with the help of DNA technology that didn't exist at the time.

The body of 15-year-old Paul Ornelas was found near railroad tracks in an unincorporated area on June 21, 1975.

The official cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. An investigation over several years never led to arrests.

Ornelas' unsolved murder left his family with lingering grief. John Ornelas was one year younger than his brother and is now 60 years old.

He said the two were inseparable when they were growing up. John said never got over his brother's death.

"I just thought the world just ended because that's how close we were," Ornelas said. "To take something so close like that, it's just devastating. It shocked the whole family."

Now, investigators said they have a new tool called the ANDE Rapid DNA instrument.

The device was first successfully used by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office after the 2019 Conception dive boat fire that killed 34 people off Santa Cruz Island.

In that case the instrument was used to rapidly identify the dead.

It was also used to ID the victims in the 2020 Kobe Bryant helicopter crash.

In criminal cases, the technology is able to process tiny levels of biological evidence left by suspects at crime scenes.

For example, a suspect can simply touch an object and leave enough DNA evidence for the device to identify.

It has also been previously used in other criminal cases around the country.

Started in 2004, ANDE is becoming synonymous with Rapid DNA thanks to a run of high-profile projects, including a pilot program on the border with the U.S. government that ended in 2019.

Voluntary cheek swabs were taken from some migrant adults and children to confirm family connections, amid worries by the Trump administration that some migrants were fraudulently posing as parents.

Although the technology isn't used for courtroom evidence, investigators are embracing a tool that can give them results in a couple hours rather than waiting days or weeks, allowing them to zero in on suspects and solve cases faster

"This technology was not available at the time of the Ornelas homicide in 1975, but thanks to the preservation of evidence, and new comprehensive DNA procedures, the ANDE instrument offers a new, reliable, and effective tool for investigators to revisit this case," the office said.

"I just always ask the question is, will this ever be solved? Will it ever be opened again? And here we are, almost 46 years later. It's reopened," Ornelas said. "I just pray that I get some closure some day and justice to be served."

The reopened Ornelas case has been assigned to the sheriff's major crimes unit.

In 2019, the use of ANDE rapid DNA machines came under scrutiny, as several states said investigators were not being properly trained in how to use the equipment at the time and not properly disclosing DNA evidence to criminal suspects.

ANDE spokeswoman Annette Mattern disputed the accusations, saying law enforcement agencies bear the responsibility for evidence handling. She said no issues have been raised regarding ANDE's equipment.