Overview
- Police announced Thursday that investigators linked 58-year-old Robert Young of South Carolina by DNA to the 2001 stabbing death of Nancy Smith in New Windsor.
- A single strand of hair recovered at the crime scene was reanalyzed with advanced commercial genealogical methods and produced the family connections that led to Young.
- Detectives followed hundreds of leads over decades, submitted the hair for new testing in 2023, and traveled to Myrtle Beach in 2024 to collect a DNA sample that matched the evidence.
- Young denied involvement when interviewed by investigators in April, was found dead by suicide several days later, and therefore cannot be charged; investigators have not publicly identified a motive.
- Smith’s sister said the identification brought relief and partial closure after the victim’s parents died in 2024, and the case highlights the growing role of genealogical DNA in resolving long-unsolved violent crimes.