Maine Man Arrested in a Quarter-Century Old Cold Case

A Maine man was arrested in connection to a 26-year-old cold case and authorities say they connected him to the murder from DNA voluntarily submitted by the man's aunt.

The Associated Press reports court documents say police in Alaska were able to make an arrest Friday in the quarter-century-old cold case.

Alaska State Troopers took 44-year-old Steven Downs of Auburn, Maine in custody in his hometown late last week on murder and sexual assault charges related to the 1993 death of Sophie Sergie.

Sergie's body was found in a dorm bathtub at University of Alaska Fairbanks when she was 20 years old.

A genealogical study traced Downs to Maine. Court documents say Downs told investigators he recalled Sergie's murder but had never met her.

Steven Downs made his intentions known in the first court appearance since his Friday arrest. A judge on Tuesday ordered him held without bail pending another hearing next month.

The 44-year-old Downs was a university student at the time. Sergie was a former student.

Alaska police zeroed in on Downs after DNA submitted by his aunt on a genealogical website was linked to DNA from the crime scene.