He Took Their Lives in the '80s — Now We Know His Name

On a quiet morning in 1987, 23-year-old Shannon Rose Lloyd was found dead in her Garden Grove, California, home. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled. Two years later, another woman, 27-year-old Renee Cuevas, was found murdered near the now-defunct El Toro Marine Base. With few leads and no suspects, both cases went cold for decades — until DNA technology finally revealed the killer hiding in plain sight.

A Breakthrough in Forensics

For years, investigators had little to go on. It wasn't until 2003 that DNA from both crime scenes was compared and confirmed to belong to the same unknown suspect. But despite being uploaded into CODIS, the national law enforcement DNA database, no match was found.

Then came investigative genetic genealogy (IGG), the same technique that caught the infamous Golden State Killer. This method allowed detectives to build a suspect's family tree using DNA voluntarily submitted to public genealogy databases. It led authorities straight to a man named Reuben J. Smith.

Who Was Reuben J. Smith?

Smith lived in Orange County, California, during the 1980s, the same time Lloyd and Cuevas were murdered. However, he was never on the police radar. That changed in 1998, when he was arrested in Las Vegas for attempting to sexually assault and murder another woman. Though the charges were later dropped, a DNA sample was taken during his arrest. That very sample would ultimately confirm his involvement in Lloyd and Cuevas' deaths.

Before Smith could face justice for the Las Vegas crime, he died by suicide in 1999. Though he escaped a courtroom trial, the full extent of his crimes were finally exposed decades later.

The Long Road to Justice

The identification of Smith brought relief but also painful memories for the victims' families. According to the City of Garden Grove, Shannon Lloyd's brother, Tom Lloyd, described his sister by saying, "She was tough. She wasn't scared of much." He added, "It's hard for me to fathom how anyone can take another person's life and just discard them."

The Power of DNA

Investigative genetic genealogy has revolutionized cold case investigations. Without it, Lloyd and Cuevas' killer might have remained unknown forever. Advances in forensic science have proven that no matter how much time passes, DNA holds the answers.

For the families of Shannon Lloyd and Renee Cuevas, the resolution of these cases may not bring their loved ones back, but it does provide one thing that was missing for over three decades: the truth.

References: 2 Cold Case Murders From 1980s Solved With Genetic Genealogy | Two Orange County Cold Case Murders Solved Through Multi-Agency Effort