DNA tests provide suspect information in 1987 murders of couple from capital
The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office is releasing new suspect information in the cold-case homicides of a young Victoria couple who were murdered on a trip to Washington state 30 years ago.
On Wednesday morning, the sheriff’s office will hold a news conference on the murders of Oak Bay High graduates Tanya Van Cuylenborg, 18, and Jay Cook, 20, who were found dead in Washington state in November 1987.
A media advisory from the sheriff’s office said the new suspect information comes from Snapshot DNA phenotyping.
The technology is described as a forensic DNA analysis service that accurately predicts the physical appearance and ancestry of an unknown person from DNA. Snapshot is ideal for generating investigative leads, narrowing suspect lists, and solving human remains cases, the Snapshot DNA phenotyping website says. Tanya Van Cuylenborg, 18, was found dead in Washington state in November 1987.
Family members of the victims and a cold-case detective are expected to attend the news conference in Everett, Washington.
The two Oak Bay High School graduates travelled from Victoria to Port Angeles on Nov. 18, 1987, via the Coho ferry. They had borrowed a van from Cook’s father to pick up furnace parts for him, and were last seen in the Bremerton-Seattle area. They were reported missing on Nov. 20, 1987.
On Nov. 24, 1987, Van Cuylenborg’s body was discovered in a ditch on a rural road near Alger in Skagit County. She had been sexually assaulted, then shot in the head. On Nov. 25, her wallet and keys were found discarded behind a Bellingham tavern. The van was located next to the Bellingham Greyhound bus station.
Then on Nov. 26, 1987, Cook’s body was discovered under a bridge near Monroe, Washington, northeast of Seattle and within sight of a minimum-security prison. He had been beaten and strangled.
Van Cuylenborg’s father said he believed the couple might have picked up a hitchhiker.
In 2015, investigators offered a $25,000 reward for information on the murders.