Suspect in the Assault & Murder of Carol Klaber is Identified
Boone County Sheriff’s Office & Kentucky State Police Partner with Othram to Identify the 1976 Murderer of Carol Klaber
In June 1976, 16-year-old, Carol Sue Klaber was found brutally murdered in a roadside ditch on Chambers Road in Walton, Kentucky. The Kentucky State Police (KSP) responded to the scene and began their murder investigation at that time. The investigation revealed that Ms. Klaber died as a result of blunt force trauma with evidence of strangulation as well as sexual assault. KSP Detective Jerry Keith worked the investigation for nearly a decade before it went cold.
''The Boone County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit was established in 2017 and is comprised of two (2) detectives, Detective Coy Cox and Detective Tim Adams. They adopted Ms. Klaber’s murder investigation that same year. Detectives learned that evidence of the suspects’s DNA was collected in 1976 as well as the suspect’s fingerprints. In the years that followed, Detectives Cox & Adams targeted two (2) credible suspects, however, they were later forensically ruled out.
In September 2022, the Boone County Sheriff’s Office partnered with Othram to determine if advanced forensic DNA testing could help establish an identity for the male suspect or a close relative. With funding provided by Season of Justice, the Kentucky State Police Central Forensic Center sent Othram a DNA extract developed from the 1976 crime scene. Othram scientists used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing to build a comprehensive DNA profile for the unknown suspect. Once the profile was built, Othram’s in-house genealogy team used forensic genetic genealogy to produce investigative leads which were returned to the Boone County Sheriff's Office. In a follow up investigation, detectives were then able to positively identify the suspect.
The suspect is identified as Thomas W. Dunaway originally of Park Hills, Kentucky. He was 19 years old when he brutally murdered Ms. Klaber in 1976. Dunaway developed an extensive and violent criminal history over the years and died in 1990 at the age of 33. The Cold Case Unit met with the Klaber family to notify them of their findings.
Dunaway’s DNA will be entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) for comparison against other unknown profiles.''
Suspect named in NKY teen’s 1976 cold case murder, sheriff’s office says
Carol Sue Klaber from Fort Wright was looking forward to her senior year at Dixie Heights High School when she vanished nearly five decades ago
''BOONE COUNTY, Ky. (WXIX) - The Boone County Sheriff’s Office announced Wednesday that they closed the decades-long murder investigation of a 16-year-old Northern Kentucky teen.
According to Major Phillip Ridgell, state detectives worked for 46 years to find the suspect responsible for Carol Sue Klaber’s murder. Ridgell also said that after ruling out two suspects forensically, the murderer was finally identified through DNA analysis.
“We can also announce today that the killer’s name is Thomas Dunaway originally of Park Hills, Kentucky,” said Major Ridgell. “At the time of the murder he was 19 years old, and over the years, established quite a lengthy and violent criminal history. The Klaber family has been updated with these findings. Det. [Coy] Cox and Det. [Tim] Adams met with them this week, and they do have closure in this case.”
Officials said that Dunaway died in 1990 at 33.''
