DNA helps link killings of 4 young women to an American man who lived in Canada illegally

After 48 years of investigation, Alberta Royal Canadian Mounted Police linked the deaths of four young women killed in the Calgary area in the 1970s to one man – a serial sexual offender who they believe may have committed more violent crimes until his death.

After 48 years of investigation, Alberta Royal Canadian Mounted Police linked the deaths of four young women killed in the Calgary area in the 1970s to one man – a serial sexual offender who they believe may have committed more violent crimes until his death. Police say Gary Allen Srery killed junior high school friends Eva Dvorak and Patricia McQueen, both 14 years old, in 1976, before killing Melissa Rehorek, 20, and Barbara MacLean, 19, in the span of a year. “Srery’s criminality spanned decades, over multiple jurisdictions, under numerous aliases, and the Alberta RCMP believe there may be more victims,” Alberta RCMP said in a news release Friday. Crime scene DNA was seized during the initial homicide investigations, but due to a lack of DNA technology at the time, police failed to link a suspect to the killings. About 30 years later, in 2003, police were able to confirm the same suspect was linked to Rehorek and MacLean’s deaths through DNA evidence. And in 2021, resubmitted crime scene evidence from the Dvorak and McQueen investigations unearthed a link with those of Rehorek and MacLean, according to RCMP. “The same unknown male DNA profile was identified on both victims that matched the unknown male DNA profile from the Rehorek and MacLean murders,” police said in a news release. “In light of this new information, the RCMP believed that the same male offender was responsible for the deaths of all four victims.”