On December 14, 1995, 17-year-old Krystal Beslanowitch set off on foot to go to a convenience store in Salt Lake City, Utah at 8:45 PM, but never returned to the motel her and her boyfriend, Chris were living in. Chris walked to the convenience store to search for Krystal, but the employees say they never saw her there. Two days later, the nude, battered body of a teenage female was found on the bank of the Provo River. She had been beaten to death with granite rocks. Her boyfriend phoned the police after seeing drawings of the Jane Doe's tattoos on the news to tell them he believes the body was that of his girlfriend, Tracy Beslanowitch. It was later determined that Krystal had been using the identity of her step-sister, Tracy, and that the Jane Doe was in fact Krystal.

18 years later, the murder was solved using new technology known as the M-Vac when police were able to take DNA from the rocks at the crime scene used to kill Krystal.

Sources:

Savage, Laiken. (2020, February 1). Krystal Beslanowitch. Retrieved from: https://laikansavage.wordpress.com/2020/02/01/solved-sundayss-krystal-beslanowitch/

Fretwell, Courtney J. (2020, February 9). The Murder of Krystal Beslanowitch. Retrieved from: https://forensictales.com/the-murder-of-krystal-beslanowitch/

Miller, Jessica. (2016, September 30). Utah jury sentences man to life without parole for killing teen in 1995. Retrieved from: https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=4416500&itype=CMSID. Salt Lake Tribune.

Kennedy, Gene. (2019, September 19). DNA match leads to arrest in cold case homicide from 1995. Retrieved from: https://fox13now.com/2013/09/19/arrest-made-in-cold-case-homicide-from-1995/ Fox 13 Salt Lake City.

Curry-Reyes, Traciy. (2019, April 20). Krystal Beslanowitch, Joseph Michael Simpson: Watch ‘Murder Decoded Murder On The Rocks’, Profiling Utah Cold Case. Retrieved from: https://tvcrimesky.com/2019/04/20/krystal-beslanowitch-joseph-simpson-murder-decoded-murder-on-the-rocks-of-teen-investigation-discovery-teen-tracry-beslanowitch/1535

Audio:

M-Vac Systems. (2016, December 18). M-Vac System Case Study-Krystal Lynn Beslanowitch Cold Case Homicide. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGXJFBHcMzE