Cold case of 9-year-old girl who was kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and killed solved 51 years later
09/20/2023 6:26 am PDT
MARIETTA, Ga. (TCD) -- Detectives have solved a 51-year-old cold case involving the kidnapping, rape, and murder of a 9-year-old girl who went missing while walking home.
On Jan. 13, 1972, Debbie Randall never returned home from a laundromat that was about half a block from her residence. According to the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office, the sole clue was some spilled detergent.
Sixteen days later, Southern Regional Technical College students found Randall’s body near Windy Hill and Powers Ferry Road in Marietta. The District Attorney’s Office said she had been strangled to death after her abduction and assault.
Marietta Police processed the scene and gathered evidence near her body, but leads came up empty. The case eventually went cold.
In 2015, the Cobb County Cold Case Unit reopened the case by sending a piece of cloth found on Randall’s body to a lab for updated DNA analysis. Cobb County District Attorney Flynn Broady said at a press conference the DNA found on the cloth generated a partial profile for an unknown male. Over time, investigators located some of the suspect’s descendants.
Family members provided investigators with DNA samples for comparison, and it matched the DNA found on Randall’s body. The Cobb County District Attorney’s Office identified the suspect as William Rose. He was 24 years old at the time of the crime and committed suicide in 1974.
After receiving DNA from his family members, officials exhumed Rose’s body and confirmed he was the killer.
Rose reportedly knew people who lived in Randall’s apartment complex.
Randall’s parents both died before the case came to a close.
Broady said at the news conference, "The answer we are providing today will not bring her back. We can’t extract justice from the perpetrator, but I know he must answer to a higher power. I hope it will answer provide some relief and answer the question that has lingered for more than 50 years."
MORE:
TRUE CRIME DAILY: THE PODCAST covers high-profile and under-the-radar cases every week. Subscribe to our YouTube page for podcasts, exclusive videos, and more, and don’t forget to follow us on TikTok.
