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Police, prosecutors seek witnesses to 1973 murder of 11-year-old, release vintage photo of defendant

by in News

Police sought witnesses to the 1973 killing of an 11-year-old girl and, on Thursday, Feb. 21, released an old photograph of a man who had been identified as a suspect and arrested with the aid of DNA evidence.

The picture of James Alan Neal, 72, of Monument, Colorado, who is a defendant in the kidnapping and murder of Linda O’Keefe, was taken between 1970 and 1980, according to a news release from the Newport Beach Police Department. He was taken into custody Tuesday after a sample he submitted to a genealogy website matched evidence obtained by investigators.

Neal also went by the name Albert Layton Jr., according to the release, and spent several years living in Riverside. Authorities hope the sepia tinted photo of Neal smiling with a mustache and bushy haircut will help potential witnesses remember details relevant to the decades-old killing. Officers have asked people to contact the Newport Beach Police Department’s Cold Case Tip Line, 949-644-3669, with information possibly related to their investigation.

O’Keefe was last seen walking to home her home in Corona del Mar before she went missing 45 years ago on Friday, July 6. Relatives and police searched for her through the night. She was found strangled in a ditch off of Newport Beach’s Back Bay the next morning.

  • Retired Newport Beach police officer Stan Bressler talks following the announcement of the arrest of James Alan Neal in the 1973 murder of 11-year-old Linda Ann OÕKeefe during a press conference at the Orange County District AttorneyÕs office in Santa Ana, CA on Wednesday, February 20, 2019. Bressler was an officer in 1973 and was called out to the murder scene.
    OÕKeefe has just left her Corona del Mar home on July 6, 1973 when she disappeared. Her body was found the next morning in a ditch in Newport BeachÕs Back Bay. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer speaks during a press conference at the OCDAÕs office in Santa Ana, CA on Wednesday, February 20, 2019. Spitzer announced the arrest of James Alan Neal in the 1973 murder of 11-year-old Linda Ann OÕKeefe. OÕKeefe has just left her Corona del Mar home on July 6, 1973 when she disappeared. Her body was found the next morning in a ditch in Newport BeachÕs Back Bay. Also with Spitzer is Newport Beach Police Chief Jon Lewis and Newport Beach Police Deputy Chief Jay Short, from left.
    (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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  • A photo of 11-year-old Linda Ann OÕKeefe is displayed during a press conference at the Orange County District AttorneyÕs office in Santa Ana, CA on Wednesday, February 20, 2019 to announce the arrest of James Alan Neal in the 1973 murder of OÕKeefe. OÕKeefe has just left her Corona del Mar home on July 6, 1973 when she disappeared. Her body was found the next morning in a ditch in Newport BeachÕs Back Bay. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • A photo of James Alan Neal is displayed during a press conference at the Orange County District AttorneyÕs office in Santa Ana, CA on Wednesday, February 20, 2019 to announce the arrest of Neal in the 1973 murder of 11-year-old Linda Ann OÕKeefe. OÕKeefe has just left her Corona del Mar home on July 6, 1973 when she disappeared. Her body was found the next morning in a ditch in Newport BeachÕs Back Bay. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • This photograph of defendant James Alan Neal, 72, of Monument, CO, also Known as Albert Layton Jr., was taken between 1970 and 1980. He has been charged with the 1973 murder of Linda O’Keefe, an 11-year-old girl who disappeared more than 40 years ago on Friday, July 6, and was found strangled to death in Newport Beach. Police and prosecutors have released this image in hopes of contacting witnesses in the decades old case. (Photo courtesy of the Newport Beach Police Department)

  • Jeffrey C. Malecki, 55, and wife Yvette Malecki, 54, of San Jacinto, react as they read an online story that their former next-door neighbor, James Alan Neal, has been charged in the 1973 abduction and killing of 11-year-old Linda O’Keefe of Corona del Mar, who disappeared as she was walking home from school. (Richard K. De Atley, SCNG)

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The case went cold. At one point, a suspect admitted to killing O’Keefe, but his confession turned out to be false.

In July of 2018, Police released a sketch based on DNA evidence collected during their investigation and began a social media campaign behind the hashtag #LinsasStory in hopes of tracking down a suspect. Then, in January, a sample submitted to the website FamilyTreeDNA.com led police to identify Neal as a suspect.