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Shannon Lloyd And Renee Cuaves: The Double Homicide Solved After Nearly Four Decades

How Genetic Genealogy solved a cold case.

By Shauna MullenPublished 11 months ago 3 min read
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Over the last decade, technology has advanced exceptionally. The possibilities today are endless and the advantage it gives in all aspects in life is notable. In crime, the police are now able to solve murders that went cold years ago with evidence that has been preserved. New technologies and investigative practices can not only further a case and hopefully lead to a resolution but it gives victims' families reassurance that law enforcement will continue to look for answers. From submitting dated evidence for forensic testing, to using genetic genealogy the power of scientific analysis has evolved vastly.

In May 1987, 23-year-old Shannon Lloyd was sexually assaulted and strangled in her bedroom in Garden Cove, Orange County. She was described as being a bit of a tomboy and loving horses, her brother remembers her as having an adventurous soul. Talking about his sister, Tom Llyod said: “It’s hard for me to fathom how anyone could take another person’s life like it was nothing and just discard them.” Unfortunately, even though DNA was taken from the crime scene, the technology was not what it is today and Shannon’s murder went cold.

Shannon Lloyd, 23

Two years later, in a small city called Brea, in California, 27-year-old Renee Cuaves was found on the side of the road near the El Toro Marine base. She had also been sexually assaulted and strangled. Her cousin said she would never forget her dimples. “If I could speak to her, tell her how sorry I am, I would make her laugh so I could see her beautiful dimples.” Just like Shannon Lloyd, DNA was taken but the trail went cold.

Renee Cuaves, 27

It wasn’t until 2003 that police connected the murders using the DNA database CODIS. Up until that moment, they had been investigating them both as separate cases. Although this was a major breakthrough at the time, nothing more came from this.

Nearly two decades later, in 2021, a possible suspect was named to the public. Police had used Genetic Genealogy. The is process of taking an unknown DNA sample and comparing it to every database that had been built up over the years to find a partial match. Once finding a similar sample, they then use multiple different services to build up a family tree until they find the owner of the original, unknown sample. This led the police to a man named Reuben J. Smith.

Rueben Smith was found to have been a former resident of Orange County during the time period in question. In 1998, whilst he had been living in Las Vegas, Nevada, he was arrested for a sexual assault and attempted murder. His surviving victim is unnamed but released a statement: “The evil in him. I know if I didn’t fight, I was going to die. It was horrible. The things that he did, the things that he said. He told me he was going to kill me.” Unfortunately, at the time of his arrest there was not enough evidence to convict him. However, he was forced for investigative purposes to provide a DNA sample at that time. Only a year later, in 1999, Rueben Smith killed himself with a gun after the realisation of possible capture.

Rueben J. Smith, 37

Once police found the arrest record, they confirmed that Rueben Smith’s DNA matched both the samples at Shannon Lloyd and Renee Cuaves’ crime scenes. The family of both the victims say that so many questions are still left unanswered and they think that Rueben committing suicide was the final way he could think of causing pain. They know the who, the what and where but now they shall never know the why.

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About the Creator

Shauna Mullen

I like to write about true crime and do small investigations. I also write fiction sometimes

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Comments (1)

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  • Antoinette L Brey11 months ago

    It is so sad how easy it is for someone to take another's life and run free for years. I

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