DNA Match Leads to Arrest in 1999 Rape, Murder of Two Dothan Teenage Girls

Photo from WTVY Dothan

Alabama authorities say a DNA match found through a genealogy website has led to an arrest in the killings of two teen girls nearly 20 years ago.

According to reports, Coley McCraney, 45, of Dothan, was arrested Saturday on rape and capital murder charges in the 1999 deaths of 17-year-olds Tracie Hawlett and J.B. Beasley.

The girls left Dothan the night of July 3, 1999, to attend a party, but never arrived. They were found the next day in the trunk of Beasley’s car alongside a road in Ozark. Each was found with a gunshot wound to the head.

A different suspect was cleared after his DNA didn’t match that from semen found on Beasley.

A prosecutor says he’ll seek the death penalty.

Coley McCraney – Photo from WTVY Dothan

___

(Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)