Victims Lori Ann Perera (left) and Pearl Wilson Ingram (right). Credit: LVMPD
In December 1992, the body of 31-year-old Lori Ann Perera was found in a desert area in Las Vegas, Nevada by a resident who was walking his dog. Perera was found nude with apparent ligature marks on both ankles and both wrists and it appeared tape had been placed over her mouth. The Clark County Medical Examiner ruled Perera’s cause of death asphyxia due to manual strangulation with blunt force trauma to the head and her manner of death a homicide after a complete autopsy of her body.
Then, in January 1994, the body of 35-year-old Pearl Wilson Ingram was found in the trash dumpster behind a grocery store. Ingram was found nude from the waist down and trash debris had been placed over her body in an effort to conceal her. After a complete autopsy of her body, Clark County Medical Examiner ruled Ingram’s cause of death was manual strangulation and the manner of death a homicide. During the autopsy, it was noted several of the victim’s teeth were missing and she had abrasions on the bridge of her nose and above her eye.
Throughout the past three decades, these two cases have been reviewed by numerous LVMPD detectives, in hopes of developing new evidence.
In March 2007, during a cold case review of the 1992 murder, homicide detectives identified evidence, a sperm fraction from a rectal swab recovered at the time of autopsy and requested further forensic DNA work be conducted. An unknown DNA profile was identified and entered into CODIS. In July 2012, during a cold case review of the 1994 murder, homicide detectives identified evidence, a skin swab from victim Ingram’s body from the original sexual assault kit, recovered at the time of autopsy. The DNA evidence was again entered into CODIS and on that same date, LVMPD Homicide was notified of a CODIS hit linking DNA from an unknown contributor from the two homicides, which confirmed the same person committed both murders. This was a huge breakthrough, connecting these two cases that otherwise would not have been connected.
Last summer, in June 2022, LVMPD Cold Case Investigators requested a genealogical investigation be performed by Othram. Based on research from Othram's in-house genetic genealogy team, a preliminary suspect was identifed as Eddie George Snowden Jr., born in January 1937.
Records checks conducted on Snowden revealed Snowden had listed his address in the 2800 block of East Charleston, Las Vegas, NV 89104. Victim Lori Ann Perera’s body was recovered at 2700 block of East Charleston Boulevard, and 1.9 miles away from where Victim Pearl Ingram’s body was recovered in January 1994. Additionally, Snowden’s criminal history revealed he was living in the Las Vegas area at the time of both murders. It also appears from Snowden’s criminal history he lived from 1956 to 1979 in the Fresno, California area as well as several surrounding cities, including Sacramento, Santa Cruz, Madera, Merced, Woodland, and Watsonville.
LVMPD Cold Case Investigators were able to obtain familial reference DNA from one of Snowden’s biological family members to confirm he was indeed the person who sexually assaulted, beat, strangled and murdered both Lori Ann Perera and Pearl Ingram. No arrests will be made in these two cases due to the fact Eddie George Snowden Jr. died in Las Vegas in 2017.
“Unfortunately, Snowden Jr. died in February 2017 of natural causes so there will be no arrest made in either of these cases. However, I do encourage the jurisdictions where he lived to review their cold cases for similar fact patterns," said Jason Johansson, Homicide Lt. with the LVMPD.
Republished courtesy of DNASolves/Othram. View cases in need of funding here.