DNA leads to arrest in 1981 cold case murder of Texas woman
BEXAR COUNTY, Texas - A 68-year-old Arizona man is expected to be extradited to Texas to face a capital murder charge in the 1981 sexual assault and killing of a Texas woman.
Suspect arrested in 1981 Cold Case
What we know:
Kelly Lee Brower was arrested on Aug. 19, 2026, in Cottonwood, Arizona after modern DNA testing and forensic genealogy research identified him as a suspect in the killing of 23-year-old Yolanda Herrera.
Kelly Lee Brower
According to DPS, Herrera's nude body was found by children on April 13, 1981, in a field near the 500 block of East Aviation Drive within Bexar County in Texas. Investigators said she had been sexually assaulted and beaten to death after she was last seen walking home from a local bar shortly after it closed days earlier.
Authorities said investigators spent years trying to identify Herrera’s killer, eliminating all known suspects before the case went cold for more than four decades.
Forensic genealogy breakthrough solves the case
The backstory:
The case was identified in late 2020 as eligible for DPS’ Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, a federally funded program that supports investigations into unsolved sexual assaults and sexually related killings.
Texas Rangers and Universal City police submitted evidence collected during Herrera’s original autopsy for advanced DNA testing and genealogy research. According to DPS officials, BODE Technologies developed a lead through a surname search in 2021 and recovered a small DNA sample from key evidence, though officials said there was not enough at the time for genealogy testing.
Othram Laboratories further analyzed the DNA in 2025 and used forensic investigative genetic genealogy to identify Brower as a possible suspect, DPS said.
Suspect confesses, awaits extradition to Texas
What's next:
Investigators traveled to Arizona to interview Brower, who later confessed to killing Herrera after multiple interviews, according to DPS.
Brower remains in custody and will be returned to Texas for prosecution.
The Source: Information in this article was provided by the Texas Department of Public Safety.