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Advancements in DNA testing helps solve 26-year-old Morgan City cold case
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MORGAN CITY, La. (KLFY) -- The body of Amber Lynn Jenkins Garcia was found 26 years ago in a wooded area of Young's Memorial Park in Morgan City. Thanks to advancements in DNA testing, her case can finally see justice.
Morgan City police Capt. John Schaff said the community was shaken in 1998 when Garcia's body was the first of two discovered in a matter of months.
"We are a small, tight-knit community. A lot of people know each other. And, you know, this is something that rocked our community back then because it's not something that happened. It doesn't happen all the time," Schaff said.
Two months after Garcia's body was found, the body of Jennifer Vedol was discovered near Duke Street. The investigation of Vedol's death led to John Willis Pittman Jr., who was 18 years old at the time.
Pittman pleaded guilty to manslaughter in Vedol's death and was sentenced to 40 years by the Louisiana Department of Corrections at Elayn Hunt Correctional Center.
Schaff said there was always a suspicion Pittman was the one responsible for Garcia's death as well, but investigators could never tie it to him until recently.
"We were able to resubmit some evidence to the Acadiana Crime Lab from sources that the original investigators in 1998 had taken and resubmitted that to the crime lab, which yielded us a positive result coming back to John Willis Pittman Jr. as being the one responsible for her death," Schaff said.
Pittman is now facing a second-degree murder charge in connection to Garcia's murder. A $1 million bond was set.
"We're glad that we were able to make the community feel safer. We're glad that we were able to bring joy [and] fulfillment to Ms. Garcia's family. We're glad," Schaff said.
"We don't want to forget about Ms. Vedol's family because, you know, all of this dredges up everything from 26 years ago from when Ms. Vedol was taken from this earth. And we just want to know that, you know, we do everything we can to serve this community and make it safer," he continued.