ATLANTA — UPDATE: The FBI's Atlanta special agent in charge said DNA testing had identified Henry Fredrick "Hoss" Wise as the killer of Stacey Lyn Chahorski, a Michigan woman who went missing in Dade County in 1988.
Wise died in 1999 in a stunt car accident, authorities said, at Myrtle Beach Speedway. They added at the time of the murder he had been a truck driver who on his route had regularly passed through Dade County, where Chahorski was found on the side of I-59.
They said a living family member of Wise's cooperated in providing DNA testing which showed a match with original DNA suspected to be the killer's found at the scene of the crime more than 30 years ago.
"We realize solving this horrific crime does not ease the pain for Stacey's family, nothing can, but hopefully it answers some questions," said Atlanta FBI Special Agent In Charge Keri Farley.
A representative for the family said Stacey's mother was "very at peace" with learning the killer had already been long dead.
"Wise had a criminal history in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina, ranging from theft, assault, to obstruction of a police officer. Wise’s arrests predate mandatory DNA testing after felony arrest," the GBI noted in a release.
UPDATE 2: The press conference has concluded. You can re-watch it in the video player above this story shortly.
Original story below
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is giving an update on a 30-plus-year-old cold case at its headquarters in Decatur on Tuesday afternoon.
While the GBI did not disclose the details of their announcement, the FBI confirmed with 11Alive that the announcement is in relation to a woman found dead in Dade County back in 1988.
The investigation began when an unidentified woman was found along I-59 in Dade County, Georgia, just over five miles from the state line.
Investigators plan on giving the latest update in the case at 1:30 p.m.
The GBI worked for years to identify her and begin the investigation into her death.
Earlier this year, the woman was identified as Stacey Lyn Chahorski from Michigan, who was last heard from in Sept. of 1988. The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System said Chahorski told her mother she was in North Carolina and would be traveling to Flint and Muskegon.
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In the mid-2000s, the case was reassigned, and additional evidence was taken to the FBI's evidence lab to be tested. Photos were drawn to recreate what the victim could have looked like at the time and her DNA was entered into the missing persons database.
In 2015, the case was reassigned again. The GBI worked with the FBI to use a new type of genealogy investigation that had previously solved homicide investigations.
Chahorski would have been 52 years old this year.
The GBI said she was at one point buried in a Dade County cemetery and now her body will be reunited with her family.
After the announcement in March, the bureau said they would now "turn to the search for Stacey’s killer," but did not have any suspects at the time.