In a remarkable breakthrough in a decades-old cold case, new DNA evidence recovered from a cigarette has led to the arrest of a suspect in Arkansas, 44 years after Dorothy Marie Silzel was murdered in suburban Seattle. Silzel was last seen alive on February 23, 1980, in Kent, Washington, and was found dead in her condo three days later following a welfare check. Local police determined she had been sexually assaulted and strangled.

The case remained unsolved for decades until advancements in DNA technology allowed authorities to revisit the evidence collected at the crime scene. In March 2022, Kent police began pursuing possible DNA matches, narrowing down the list to 11 suspects with the help of forensic genetic genealogy testing funded by Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson's office.

One of the suspects, Kenneth Kundert, who was living in Van Buren County, Arkansas, became a focal point of the investigation. Kundert had lived and worked in Seattle in 1987 and had a family member residing near Silzel at the time of her murder. He also had misdemeanor convictions in King County throughout the 80s and 90s. Under surveillance by Kent police, Kundert eventually dropped a cigarette before entering a store. The cigarette was recovered, and DNA testing confirmed it matched the DNA found in Silzel's condo.

On August 20, members of the Van Buren County Sheriff's Office and detectives from the Kent Police Department arrested Kundert. He has been charged with first-degree murder and is being held on a $3 million bail. Authorities expect Kundert to be extradited to Washington to face charges.