A huge arrest has been made in a nearly 20-year-old cold case in Sarasota.
Over the weekend, 39-year-old Luke Fleming was arrested for raping and killing Deborah Dalzell. The case garnered national attention and deputies used some cutting-edge technology to solve it.
In March 1999, deputies visited Deborah Dalzell’s home after she didn’t show up for work.
They discovered someone broke into the pool screen and dragged her into the bathroom. The suspect then beat her, sexually battered her and then strangled her.
For years no arrest was made, but the family held onto hope. And this week, their prayers were answered.
“As a family, we have dreamed of the day we would get the news that they had caught her killer. We now have a face and a name for this monster,” said Dalzell’s sister Peggy Thistle.
Fleming was arrested on Sunday. And deputies used extraordinary methods to find him.
“What led to his arrest is unlike anything you’ve heard in the state of Florida. It’s something that continues to surface as law enforcement agencies and technology evolve,” explained Sarasota County Sheriff Tom Knight.
DNA from the semen sample had provided no match.
“Over the past three years, significant advances in DNA technology have occurred,” said SCSO Captain John Walsh.
In 2015, the Sheriff’s office partnered with Parabon Nanolabs. The tech company used the DNA to create a composite image.
“It predicted the suspect was a male, fair skinned, brown to hazel eyes with black or brown hair,” said Captain Walsh.
The picture was eerily similar to a man named Luke Fleming, who lived within walking distance of Dalzell’s home at the time. They obtained DNA from one of Fleming’s relatives and now they say they got their man.
“His arrest didn’t happen overnight and it wasn’t easy tracking him down. But thanks to DNA evidence, coupled with ancestry and genealogy, we finally connected the dots the detectives have been working on for almost two decades,” said Sheriff Knight.
“For 20 years he has been able to see the sun, breathe the air, smell flowers. May today be the last day,” said Thistle. “Nineteen years of graduations, weddings, new babies and family milestones that Deborah has missed. We miss Deborah every day, we never gave up hope.”
Fleming was booked into the Sarasota County jail on a $1.2 million bond. The case is still under investigation.