CONTENT ADVISORY: This episode discusses the abduction and murder of a young woman. Listener discretion is advised.

THE CASE:

On February 15, 1974, Mary Schlais left her Uptown Minneapolis apartment with a cardboard sign that read "Madison." She was hitchhiking to an art show in Chicago, her regular mode of travel.

She never made it past Wisconsin.

Three hours later, a witness driving with his dog saw a man throw a woman's body into a snowy ditch. He watched the man try to cover her with snow, then flee. Mary had been stabbed more than fifteen times.

The killer left something behind: a blue and orange stocking cap.

For fifty years, that hat sat in evidence storage. For decades, investigators believed they were hunting the I-5 Killer. They were wrong.

In 2024, a college forensic genealogy team cracked the case—despite the killer being adopted, which scrambled every family tree they tried to build.

When confronted with the DNA, an 84-year-old man in an assisted living facility started talking.

FEATURING:

• A brilliant artist who spoke three languages and dreamed of showing her work in Chicago

• The eyewitness who saw the killer but couldn't stop him

• Why the I-5 Killer theory was wrong for thirty years

• How adoption nearly derailed the genetic genealogy investigation

• A confession that came fifty years too late

THE TWIST:

The DNA match was confirmed on November 4, 2024—what would have been Mary's 76th birthday. As if she'd been waiting all that time.

CREDITS:

Research sources include Dunn County Court records, KARE 11, CBS Minnesota, and Forum News Service.

Special thanks to Ramapo College's IGG Center for their forensic genetic genealogy work.

For complete sources and references, visit our show notes.

RESOURCES:

If you've been affected by violence:

• National Victim Assistance Hotline: 1-800-FYI-CALL

ABOUT CRIME DECODED:

Crime Decoded explores forensic science, genetic genealogy, and the cases they help solve. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.

Contact: stacey@crimedecoded.com

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