32 years after American woman found murdered in Germany, DNA leads to arrest: “Such cases are never forgotten”
German police said Wednesday they arrested an 81-year-old man this week in connection with the sexual assault and murder of an American woman more than 30 years ago.
The body of 24-year-old tourist Amy Lopez was found in 1994 near the historic Ehrenbreitstein Fortress, located on the Rhine in the western city of Koblenz. He was a student from Texas, German news program Tagesschau reported.
The children found her body, which was partially naked and had severe head injuries, according to local authorities.
“The victim was strangled, hit on the head with a stone, stabbed many times, and eventually died,” said the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Koblenz in a statement.
The police have been confused about this case since the body of Lopez was found, but Chief Prosecutor Manfred Mannweiler said that the development of DNA technology has made the police re-open the investigation and arrest the suspect in the retirement home.
Polizei Rheinland-Pfalz
“The roads have improved since the crime,” Manweiler said. “What is possible today would have been less in 1994.”
More evidence was gathered after investigators reexamined Lopez’s clothing and analyzed about 1,600 samples, the prosecutor’s office said. In 2024, 30 years after the discovery of Lopez, the police offered a reward of 2,500 euros for information leading to an arrest after the discovery of a male DNA trace.
Additional tips came in after the case was filed last year in “Aktenzeichen XY,” a true crime program, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Mannweiler said that the arrested man’s DNA was on file since he was convicted in 1999 of trying to rape a 16-year-old girl in Koblenz and was sentenced to seven years in prison. The DNA data was later deleted, but police obtained a new saliva sample from the suspect that was matched to DNA found inside Lopez’s jeans, the prosecutor said.
“There was a nagging fear that this case might not be solved,” Mannweiler said. “There is a relief that we may have solved now.”
Police notified Lopez’s father of the arrest Monday, Mannweiler said.
“This case should make it clear to everyone that law enforcement does not rest as long as serious crimes are not solved. Cases like this are never forgotten,” said Mannweiler. “Except for 32 years.”
Thomas Frey/photo alliance via Getty Images 
Chief investigator Friederike Manheller-Sander of the Koblenz police said that the police took up the case after forming a unit last August to look into cold cases.
“Behind all the cases there is someone who took his own life early,” he said. “Our commitment is to do everything possible to find answers.”
The suspect is being held in pre-trial detention at the Rhineland-Palatinate Correctional Center on suspicion of premeditated murder, the prosecutor’s office said.
