DNA Used To Crack Cold Case Rapes, Homicide In Rockville: Police

ROCKVILLE, MD — Montgomery County Police have linked a suspect to two cold case rapes and a homicide in Rockville using DNA and genealogy research.

Investigators have identified the suspect as Kenneth Earl Day, who died in March 2017 in West Virginia at the age of 52. DNA from both crime scenes, as well as genetic genealogy, were used to link Day to the 1989 rape of a 52-year-old unidentified female and the 1994 rape and murder of 42-year-old Le Bich-Thuy, authorities said.

According to police, the first attack happened on June 25, 1989 at approximately 10:15 p.m. That night, the 52-year-old victim was walking on Lewis Avenue in Rockville when Day approached her from behind, assaulted her and raped her.

The second attack occurred on Oct. 3, 1994. Le Bich-Thuy, 42, was found dead next to her home in the 1600 block of Martha Terrace in Rockville. Investigators determined that Bich-Thuy had been assaulted, raped, and then strangled. Bich-Thuy was last seen alive on the night of Sept. 28, 1994, as she left the Twinbrook Metro station, police said.

During the initial investigations of these alleged crimes, officials collected DNA evidence and determined that Day committed both rapes and murder. When his DNA was entered into a national database, there was no match. Despite investigative efforts, these cases remained unsolved.

In 2017, Montgomery County detectives sought help from a Virginia-based DNA technology company that specializes in DNA phenotyping — a process of predicting physical appearance and ancestry from unidentified DNA evidence.

Using Day's DNA evidence, the company — Parabon NanoLabs — developed a snapshot composite, predicting the suspect's ancestry and showing how the suspect may have looked. Officials then published the composite, in hopes that the public can help identify the suspect.

Parabon also submitted a genetic data profil of the suspect's DNA to a genetic genealogy database called GEDmatch. Police said the database could help find individuals who shared a significant amount of DNA with the suspect.

Upon further investigation, detectives were able to link Day to these cold cases. The DNA left at both crime scenes matched the DNA taken from Day's autopsy, officials said.

Montgomery County investigators continue to investigate Day's possible involvement in other unsolved crimes. Below is a list of Day's prior known addresses. Photos of Day can be found in the slideshow at the top of this post.

Anyone with information about Day is urged to call police at 240-773-5070. Callers can remain anonymous.

Prior known addresses for Day (with approximate dates):

1989: 500 block of Beall Ave., Rockville, Md. 20850
1988: 100 block of Willowdale Drive, Frederick, Md. 21702
1990-1991: 20000 block of Frederick Rd., Germantown, Md. 20876
1990: Unit block of Whetstone Drive, Gaithersburg, Md. 20877
1992: 11700 block of Zebrawood Court, Germantown Md. 20876
1993-1994: 12300 block of Selfridge Rd., Silver Spring Md. 20906
1994: 2000 block of Baltimore Rd., Rockville, Md. 20851
1997-1999: 14400 block of Belvedere Drive, Woodbridge Va. 22193
2002-2004: 11800 block of Renner Rd., Keymar, Md. 21757
Late 2000s: 10300 block of Mumma Ford Rd., Rocky Ridge, Md. 21778
Late 2000s: Unit block of Heavner Grove Rd., Buchannon, W.Va. 26201