Man Will Be Extradited In 1973 Newport Beach Cold Case Murder

NEWPORT BEACH, CA — A Colorado Springs man will not fight extradition to California to face murder charges, law enforcement officials announced on Thursday. James Alan Neal, 72, is accused of killing 11-year-old Corona Del Mar resident Linda O'Keefe more than 45 years ago, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said.

On July 6, 1973, O'Keefe was last seen in the area of Marguerite and Inlet Drive as she walked home from summer school. When she never made it home, her family reported her missing. The next day, search crews found her body dumped in a ditch. She had been strangled to death, according to investigators.

Back in 2018, in an effort to generate leads in one of the city's most infamous homicides, Newport Beach police shared a detailed account of the girl's disappearance. At that time, a DNA Pheontype portrait of the suspect was created by Parabon Labs, and shared with the world at large.

DNA from that case, which has never been closed, was entered into a national database in 2001, but it wasn't until January of 2018 that a probable match was made. DNA pointers, discovered through Family Tree DNA, a genealogy website, led police to investigate Neal, according to Spitzer.

A joint team of investigators who conducted surveillance of Neal gathered his DNA at an as-of-yet-undisclosed location. Investigators then matched Neal's DNA to original crime scene evidence found on O'Keefe's dress, according to Spitzer.

The district attorney's office has charged Neal with special circumstances murder, which could lead to the death penalty. Linda's story is not yet over.