Suspect Identified In 1993 Murder Of Alie Berrelez
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (CBS4) - Eighteen years after the murder of a 5-year-old Englewood girl, police say DNA has led them to a suspect in the kidnapping and killing.
Alie Berrelez was 5 in May 1993 when she disappeared in front of her apartment. Her body was found 4 days later in a khaki duffel bag down an embankment in Deer Creek Canyon.
Englewood police on Monday said they would hold a news conference Tuesday morning to discuss the break in the cold case, which received large amounts of media attention in the 90s.
Berrelez went missing on May 18, 1993, from the Golden Nugget apartment complex at 200 W. Grand Ave. A police bloodhound named Yogi helped officers find the body.
The bloodhound's work impressed Berrelez's family so much that the grandparents started the A.L.I.E. foundation, whose goal in part is to purchase bloodhounds for law enforcement agencies. It has provided bloodhounds to approximately 350 agencies around the country in the years since the murder, according to its website.
Richard Berrelez, Alie's grandfather, talked with CBS4's Rick Sallinger after learning of the development in the case and said he hasn't been provided with any more information than the media has.
"Through the past 18 years I've learned not to be surprised by anything. So I just kind of go with the punch and expect for the worst and hope for the best," Berrelez said.
So far police in Englewood aren't providing any specific details about who the suspect is.
Alie would have turned 23 next week.
RELATED LINK: A.L.I.E. Foundation Inc.
