(ABC 6 News) — For 50 years, police were left with no answers until a shocking discovery revealed the missing piece.

Now, scientists have given answers for how new technology linked an 84-year-old Owatonna man, Jon Miller, to a decades old murder case.

Investigators looking to solve the murder of Mary Schlais worked with a team of genetic genealogists from Ramapo College in New Jersey.

In 1974, hairs were collected from a stocking cap discovered near Schlais’ remains. Those hairs were sent to New Jersey to develop a DNA profile.

Before investigators spoke with Miller, they received a genetic sample from his daughter to help strengthen their case.

According to the criminal complaint, when investigators met with Miller, he admitted to picking up Schlais while she was hitchhiking from Minneapolis to Chicago.

Miller later admitted the stocking cap was his and told police he attacked Schlais with a knife after she refused his sexual advances.

Previously, investigators suspected Randall Woodfield, a former Green Bay Packers draft pick who would later become known as the I-5 killer thought to be responsible for dozens of murders along the west coast.