Edmonds Man Arrested In 1972 Rape And Murder Cold Case

EDMONDS, WA - Longtime Edmonds resident Terrence Miller was arrested Wednesday in connection with the 1972 rape and murder of Jody Gwen Loomis. Despite having DNA evidence from the original crime scene since the investigation began, Snohomish County detectives only recently made an arrest in the decades old cold case reportedly thanks to advances in forensic genealogy.

Miller, 77, is now being held at Snohomish County Jail, where he faces one count of first-degree murder.

Loomis died from a single .22-caliber gunshot wound to her right temple on the afternoon of Aug. 23, 1972.

For years after Loomis' murder, investigators interviewed witnesses and gathered a variety of evidence but were unable to pin down a viable suspect in the case. Nearly 40 years later, in January 2008, Snohomish County cold case detectives sent material evidence from Loomis' case to the Washington State Crime Lab for DNA testing.

A few months later, in May, crime lab technicians reported the discovery of spermatozoa on one of the boots Loomis was wearing the day she was killed. Unfortunately, the DNA found did not match anyone already in the Federal Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).

It would take another decade-worth of advancements in DNA testing technology before Snohomish County investigators contacted a leading lab working on the forefront of forensic genealogy.

Using open source genetic databases, forensic genealogist Deb Stone, of Kin Forensics, compared the unidentified spermatozoa sample against known profiles within the databases to find a familial match — which she did Aug. 14, 2018, when she announced the DNA sample found on Loomis' boot matched that of a male child borne to Jacquette and Albert Miller of Edmonds.

Of the Miller's six sons, two were deceased by the time Snohomish County investigators started looking at the family. Of the remaining four, Terrence Miller stood out with a history of alleged sex crimes for which he was never convicted.

Detectives began trailing Terrence Miller immediately after identifying him as a suspect.

On Aug. 29, 2018, detectives followed Miller to Tulalip Resort Casino, where they seized as evidence a disposable coffee cup he'd tossed into a garbage can. A week later, on Sept. 6, WSP Crime Lab investigators reported the DNA found on the coffee cup and Loomis' boot were a match.

Detectives continued following Miller periodically for the next eight months before finally initiating an arrest at his Edmonds home on April 10, 2019.

Now detectives are reaching out to the community for anyone who may have information related to Miller, firearms he may have owned in 1972, where he worked, or what vehicles he may have drove, as well as whether he was ever in possession of a horse bridle.

Anyone who can assist the investigation is encouraged to call the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office tip line at 425-388-3845.

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Miller Info, Pc Aff by on Scribd

Editor's Note: This article previously misidentified Parabon NanoLabs as the forensic genealogists to process Miller's DNA.