An Oklahoma man has been arrested in connection to the cold-case disappearance of his 8-year-old neighbor who went missing from her bedroom in 1997.
Investigators used DNA to link 56-year-old Anthony Palma to the presumed death of Kirsten Hatfield, who was reported missing from her home on May 14, 1997, according to an affidavit released Tuesday by Midwest City Police Chief Brandon Clabes.
The blond second-grader's body was never found. Kristen would have been 26 years old today.
Palma was arrested Monday on charges of first-degree murder and kidnapping, and Clabes said investigators are now searching his home for evidence. Palma lives two houses away from where Kirsten's family lived in 1997, the affidavit said.
Blood was found on Kirsten's windowsill and her underwear was found in her backyard, but the girl has not been seen since. At the time of her disappearance, investigators recovered DNA from the items but did not get a hit when running the information through a database.
The affidavit said Palma willingly gave a DNA sample in June to investigators following up on the case and results showed a match of one in 293 sextillion.
'There have been no verified sightings or contact from Kirsten since May ... of 1997,' the affidavit from Midwest City Police Detective Darrell Miller said. 'Therefore, it can be concluded that she was killed shortly after her abduction ... It is likely that Palma has been motivated to stay in the same home to conceal evidence of the crime and/or the location of Kirsten's body.'
Shortly after Kristen's disappearance, her mother, Shannon Hazen, told police she had tucked her daughter in on the evening of May 13, 1997. When she went to check on her in the morning, the 8-year-old was nowhere to be found, reported
The Oklahoman.
Palma was questioned about the case in 1997 and again this past June.
Police said on both occasions, the suspect said he was home the night Kristen went missing.
Investigators said Palma's June interview was inconsistent with what he told detectives 18 years prior, reported the station
KOCO.