Linda Slaten

#304 - In 1981, 31-year-old single mother Linda Slaten was found murdered in her Lakeland, Florida apartment. Her sons were asleep just down the hall. For decades, detectives chased every lead — a violent ex-husband, a mysterious boyfriend, even a convicted predator who once lived next door. But the trail always went cold.

Nearly forty years later, a revolutionary forensic tool — genetic genealogy — finally revealed the truth. And the answer shocked everyone: the killer had been hiding in plain sight the entire time.

This is the story of how one preserved palm print, a decades-old rape kit, and the persistence of science brought long-awaited justice to Linda Slaten’s family.

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