Louisiana Police Make Breakthrough in Decades-Old Cold Case Murder

(Morgan City, Louisiana) - Officials with the Morgan City Police Department say there has now been an arrest in a cold case that had gone unsolved for more than 25 years according to officials with the department.

Amber Lynn Jenkins Garcia was a mother and a daughter and on October 8, 1998 police were called out to Youngs Park after her body had been found near the wooded area.

According to KATC, officials collected evidence from the scene and began investigating to find out who had murdered Garcia. Officers worked the case until they came to the point that they had no other leads to follow. While the case was revisited over the years, it was a cold case as no more information was available.

On Christmas Day of 1998, officials were called out to the scene of another homicide. Officers found the body of Jennifer Vedol. Officials say that 18-year-old John Willis Pittman Jr. was developed as a suspect in the case.

As the investigation into Vedol's death happened Pittman was charged in Vedol's death, and he pleaded guilty to manslaughter. He was sentenced to 40 years of hard labor and has been incarcerated at the Elayn Hunt Correctional Facility since that time.

Over the years, Morgan City Police Chief Chad Adams says investigators would look into the cold case to see if any new information had come in or if any new suspects came up on their radar.

With all the forensic evidence that was gathered at the crime scene of Garcia, investigators decided to submit more of the material to the Acadiana Crime Lab. With advances in technology, police say that DNA evidence linked Pittman Jr. to the death of Garcia.

As the investigation into the cold case continued, officials were able to get an arrest warrant on a charge of second-degree murder, and they say he will be charged with the woman's homicide.

Chief Adams says they were able to meet with Garcia's family to let them know what had developed in the case.