This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, Colo. (KDVR) — Cherry Hills Village police said Thursday that an arrest has been made in a cold case from 1981.

Photo: Cherry Hills Village Police

Police said a man, David Dwayne Anderson, 62, has been arrested in the murder of Sylvia Quayle.

Cherry Hills Village Police Department

Quayle was found dead 40 years ago, on Aug. 4, 1981 in her home.

According to arrest documents, Quayle was shot, stabbed, strangled and likely sexually assaulted.

In 2000, an unknown male DNA profile was developed with evidence from the crime scene by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and placed into the FBI Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) and remained unidentified until Jan. 29, 2021, according to arrest documents.

On May 26, 2020, arrest documents show that United Data Connect provided a lead to the Cherry Hills Village Police Department that identified the potential source of the unknown male DNA profile in CODIS as Anderson.

Investigators collected the evidence from trash bags found in a dumpster outside Anderson’s apartment complex in Cozad, Nebraska.

According to a probable cause statement, investigators gathered 15 items, including a Vanilla Coke can, a water bottle and a beer bottle. DNA found on the Coke can connected Anderson to the Quayle case.

“This was truly a team effort that spanned the course of almost 40 years. When you think about that, it’s truly remarkable. Folks that came before me or other detectives still kept this case on the front burner and never gave up on it,” Cherry Hills Police Chief Michelle Tovrea said.

Anderson is currently in custody in Nebraska and awaiting extradition back to Colorado.

If you have information about this crime or Anderson, no matter how minuscule it may seem, please contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at (720) 913-7867 – (720) 913-STOP or submit a tip online. 

Metro Denver Crime Stoppers — partners of FOX31 and Channel 2 — provided funding for the genetic genealogy to be done.

“We started to focus on cold cases two years ago. We started with a pilot program of five cases. Happily, now we have solved all five of those cases,” Board President Michael Mills said.