Marguerite “Maggie” Jenkins, killed May 2-3, 1973 in Key Largo, has finally been linked to a suspect after more than 50 years. Investigators say DNA from a preserved bloodstain and genetic genealogy led them to David Allen Snyder, a former Key West resident who died in Idaho in October 2008, and they found records showing he lived in the Keys around 1972–1974. It sounds like FDLE and Monroe County detectives used a partial profile and family-tree work to confirm him, so the case has a named suspect now after all this time 👀. Anyone else think there’s more they should try to dig up about Snyder’s time in the Keys or other cases he might be tied to, or is this prob the end of the trail?

Marguerit Maggie Jenkins was 18 when she and her 16-year-old sister Mary Jenkins were found dead in an isolated wooded area of Key Largo on May 3, 1973, about 100 miles from Key West off Route 1. The sisters had been hitchhiking back to their parents’ home in suburban New Jersey after a trip to Key West; they had grown up in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Both Maggie and Mary had been shot multiple times and appeared to have been sexually assaulted. Their bloodied bodies were discovered covered with sticks and leaves by a man walking his dog. Investigators note the transient nature of the area and the sisters’ hitchhiking made it easier for a perpetrator to flee. Detectives have pursued leads for years and recently examined degraded specks of male DNA found on the bodies, but the material has been difficult to link to a suspect. The case remains open.

If anyone knew the Jenkins sisters, saw them in Florida in late April or early May 1973, or has information about strangers traveling Route 1 at that time, please share what is known.