SANTA ANA, Calif.—Orange County authorities Monday announced that advances in DNA technology helped solve two murders dating back to 1987 and 1989.
The suspect in the killings was identified as Reuben J. Smith, who was 39 when he took his own life with a gun in Las Vegas in 1999, according to Garden Grove police Lt. Mario Martinez.
Authorities say recent analysis of DNA evidence using new technology and genetic genealogy shows that Smith killed 23-year-old Shannon Rose Lloyd, who was a victim of a strangulation-rape, and 27-year-old Renee Cuevas.
Lloyd’s body was found by a roommate in a bedroom she rented in the 11900 block of Donna Lane in Garden Grove on May 21, 1987, Martinez said. Cuevas’ body was found on the old El Toro Marine Base in Irvine on Feb. 19, 1989….