D.C. police have obtained new DNA evidence that they hope will lead to the killer or killers of a Voice of America employee who disappeared after work 14 years ago.
On Feb. 24, 1994, 35-year-old Lawrence O’Connell, of McLean, signed out of work at Third Street and Independence Avenue SW to go pick up his son from school. He never made it, and his car was left in the parking lot. His body was found two days later by a man walking his dog through a grassy area near Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium.
“This was every suburbanite’s nightmare,” said Detective Jim Trainum. Investigators believe O’Connell may have known one of the people who kidnapped him because the area was busy that afternoon and no one witnessed a violent abduction, Trainum said.
Twenty minutes after O’Connell left work for the weekend, cameras at a Capitol Hill ATM caught a woman using his credit card. Three hours later, the card was used by a girl in Charles County at a drugstore and then at a Chinese food restaurant at a shopping center at Bryans Road. An hour later, the card was used again, this time back at a Capitol Hill liquor store to buy a bottle of booze and cigarettes.
Several months after O’Connell’s death, police arrested a young homeless woman after she confessed to Trainum that she killed O’Connell. But police later realized that her story did not add up. Police believe now that the woman had nothing to do with the crime, and now Trainum uses the case to instruct detectives on how to spot a false confession.
Police are now using new technology to test DNA evidence that was left on an article of clothing. Police have video footage and a composite of a woman who used O’Connell’s ATM and credit cards. She is described as a short, white female. Police believe there may be a Charles County connection.
Anyone with information can contact police through the tip line at 888-919-2776 or by text messaging 50-411. The Metropolitan Police are offering a reward of up to $25,000 to anyone who provides information that leads to a conviction.
