Virginia Beach police announced that 66-year-old Charles Berry of Newington, Connecticut was arrested Monday for the May 15, 1986 rape and capital murder of 22-year-old Roberta Walls, whose body was found in a field behind an elementary school.

He is charged with rape and capital murder in the commission of a rape and is in custody in Connecticut, where it is not clear from court records whether he has an attorney.

The case stalled for decades despite relentless effort. According to ABC News, a male DNA profile developed in 2001 was entered into the national databank with no match, and the DNA of more than 30 males was compared with the offender's profile — all were eliminated.

Berry, who was never on police radar, appears not to have known Walls, police said.

The turning point came in 2023, when the Virginia Beach Police Department received grant funding that let investigators pursue forensic genealogy leads, police Capt. Michele Wyatt said.

That work identified a possible suspect with strong ties to the area during the relevant period, and a direct DNA comparison ultimately identified Charles Berry as the source of the profile.

Investigators found Berry had been a U.S. Navy sailor stationed in the Virginia Beach area at the time of the murder.

"This breakthrough stands as a powerful testament to the relentless persistence of our detectives, who refused to let Roberta be forgotten," the department said, hoping the arrest brings the Walls family a measure of peace.

The story also lands amid renewed cold-case momentum: the FBI in Kansas City is separately asking the public for help in an unsolved 2013 Pettis County, Missouri house fire that killed Barbara and Jeremiah Hudson, who had been shot.