Huntington County Cold Case Solved Almost 30 Years Later

The Indiana State Police Cold Case Unit has identified the person who killed 23-year-old Angela Saco on December 21, 1997.

Huntington County, Ind. — The Indiana State Police Cold Case Unit has identified the killer in a 1997 murder case in Huntington County.

On Dec. 21, 1997, 23-year-old Angela Saco was found dead on reservoir property in Huntington County. Witnesses reported that she was last seen at her place of employment in Fort Wayne that day.

The Huntington County Coroner’s Office, Huntington County Sheriff’s Department, Indiana Conservation Officers, and the Indiana State Police were involved in the murder investigation. An autopsy later confirmed her cause of death was from being stabbed.

Detectives interviewed nearly 100 people during the initial investigation of Saco’s murder, but charges were unable to be brought against anyone.

In a release sent out on Tuesday, ISP said that thanks to advancements in scientific technology, detectives were able to solve the nearly 30-year-old case. Evidentiary items collected and preserved at the crime scene were submitted for testing in 2024 with Identifinders International, a forensic genealogy company in California founded by Colleen Fitzpatrick.

In February of this year, forensic genetic genealogists identified Stephen L. Shlater as a candidate suspect. He was later confirmed through STR testing as the contributor of the DNA at the crime scene.

“Identifinders International is proud to have supported the Indiana State Police to bring long overdue answers to Angela’s family,” said Dr. Colleen Fitzpatrick, a forensic genetic genealogist. “This case is another example of a case that would not have been solved without the use of forensic genetic genealogy.”

Stephen Shlater (Source: Indiana State Police)

Shlater was 50-years-old at the time Saco was murdered. He had been released from federal prison on another case in the Spring of 1997, just five months before Angela’s murder.