An Owatonna man is in custody and has been charged with murder after genetic genealogy linked him to a 1974 murder of a Minneapolis woman who was found in Dunn County.

Jon Miller, 84, was arrested on Thursday for the murder of Mary Schlais, who was found dead in Spring Brook Township on Feb. 16, 1974.

At that time, an investigation revealed that Schlais was hitchhiking from Minneapolis to Chicago for an art show.

Dunn County Sheriff’s Office law enforcement says they received numerous tips and leads during the decades since Schlais’ body was discovered. As DNA technology advanced, officials retested evidence found at the scene multiple times.

In collaboration with the Ramapo College in Mahwah, New Jersey, genetic genealogy testing revealed a suspect, which led to Miller’s arrest on Thursday.

“This is a huge victory for our agency,” said Dunn County Sheriff Kevin Bygd. “I was sitting in a deer stand when I got a text from Investigator [Dan] Westlund yesterday; I had a difficult time getting down, controlling my excitement.”

Charging documents from Dunn County Circuit Court stated the DNA came from an orange and black stocking cap found near Schlais’ body in 1974.

That DNA was traced to a number of partial relatives to its source, which investigators say eventually led them to Miller.

“Essentially it provided us with leads, certain family lineages, we were able to follow those leads, which ultimately lead us to an arrest,” Westlund said.

The document states Miller initially denied having any knowledge of the homicide. However, when he was presented with the DNA evidence, he reportedly admitted to picking Schlais up.

According to the document, Miller told investigators he had requested sexual contact from Schlais, which was denied. Miller said he then grabbed a knife he kept in the passenger seat visor as Schlais leaned forward and stabbed her until she was dead, according to the complaint.

He then reportedly attempted to hide her body in a snowbank but got scared when he saw another vehicle drive past him and left the area.

The complaint said Miller admitted the hat was his and said he must have lost it during the homicide.

Miller is currently in custody and awaiting extradition to Wisconsin. He is being charged with first-degree murder.

“It’s been such a doggone long time since this happened,” said Mary’s brother, Don Schlais, who added he was grateful to Dunn County for never forgetting his sister. “They’ve kept faith over virtually generations of law enforcement people.”

Don added that Mary loved art and horses and that she graduated from the University of Minnesota. He says she was in a master’s program for fine arts at the time.

“I wasn’t prepared for it, that it would ever happen, that I’d be dead and gone before there was an answer; the whole thing is a sudden surprise,” Don said.

“To finally put a bow on this one and have someone in custody for it is unbelievably satisfying,” added Sheriff Bygd.

Click below to watch a 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS story from Jan. 30, 2009 covering the cold case.