MOORE COUNTY, NC – After more than 45 years, authorities have arrested 82-year-old Rodger Zodas Brown in connection to a 1979 murder and rape case in Maryland.
According to the Moore County Sheriff’s Office, Brown was taken into custody on March 11 following an extensive investigation by the Prince George’s County (MD) Police Cold Case Unit. Investigators linked Brown to the murder of 31-year-old Kathryn Donohue, whose body was discovered on March 3, 1979, in Glenarden, Maryland.
The case went cold for decades, but in 2023, forensic genetic genealogy DNA analysis helped identify a relative of the unknown suspect. This breakthrough led authorities to Brown, who had been living in Pinehurst, North Carolina. The FBI Charlotte Field Office and Moore County Sheriff’s Office assisted in his arrest.
Investigators revealed that at the time of the crime, Brown resided in Hyattsville, Maryland. He is currently in custody in North Carolina, awaiting extradition to Prince George’s County to face first-degree murder and rape charges.
