{"id":481464,"date":"2026-10-01T09:48:34","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T09:48:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/481464\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T09:48:34","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T09:48:34","slug":"1978-bay-area-cold-case-solved-using-dna-in-gum-stuck-to-teen-victim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/481464\/","title":{"rendered":"1978 Bay Area cold case solved using DNA in gum stuck to teen victim"},"content":{"rendered":"

The murderer of a 15-year-old girl in a 1978 cold case<\/a> has finally been sentenced to life in prison \u2014 thanks to a piece of gum stuck to the victim\u2019s back for more than 22 years.<\/p>\n

Mark Stanley Personette, 80, of Colorado was convicted late last year for murdering Marissa Rolf Harvey, who disappeared on March 27, 1978 after going to San Francisco\u2019s Golden Gate Park<\/a> for an afternoon of horseback riding.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter almost 50 years, Mr. Personette is finally being held accountable for his heinous crimes against Marissa and will spend the rest of his life in prison,\u201d District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said in a Wednesday statement. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for the California Morning Report newsletter\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe biggest news, opinion and culture shaping California right now.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Mark Stanley Personette was convicted last year for murdering Marissa Rolf Harvey, who disappeared in 1978. AP<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile nothing can bring Marissa back to her family, today\u2019s sentence hopefully leaves her family with a sense that justice was done for all that they have endured,\u201d Jenkins said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

This Nov. 5, 1979, booking photo provided by the San Francisco Police Department shows Personette. AP<\/p>\n

Harvey, who was from New York City, was visiting her sister in the Bay Area for Easter. But she never returned home from her trip to Golden Gate Park.<\/p>\n

Instead, her body was found nearby by surfers in Sutro Heights Park who happened to be walking by. She was sexually assaulted and strangled, police said.<\/p>\n

Personette was busted after investigators reopened the cold case in October 2020, according to San Francisco police<\/a>, using advanced DNA testing and investigative genealogy.<\/p>\n

Testing revealed a male DNA profile on Harvey\u2019s sweater and jeans, plus a piece of dried gum stuck to her back.<\/p>\n

Two chewing gum pads are shown on a woman\u2019s palm in a conceptual image on Monday, March 18, 2024. Getty Images<\/p>\n

FBI investigators then found Personette in Denver discarding trash in a Walmart parking lot over 15 miles from his house.\u202fThe trash revealed matching DNA.<\/p>\n

Warrants revealed he was separating his personal hygiene items from his other trash, Jenkins said.<\/p>\n

There were also a map of San Francisco in the house plus a set of California license plates<\/a>, though the suspect denied he had been in the West Coast city.<\/p>\n

Marissa Rolf Harvey, 15, who was slain in 1978 in San Francisco, is pictured in this photo. San Francisco Police Department<\/p>\n

Harvey was not the only victim. During the trial, another victim testified that in 1979, Personette raped her in a wooded area of New Jersey when she was 16 years old.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors in charge of the case praised the conclusion of a decades-long saga for justice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis sentence reflects the extraordinary cruelty of Mark Personette\u2019s conduct and the harm he caused,\u201d said Assistant District Attorney Heather Trevisan. \u201cHe will spend the rest of his life facing the consequence of taking hers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters <\/p>\n

California Post News: Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, TikTok<\/a>, X<\/a>, YouTube<\/a>, WhatsApp<\/a>, LinkedIn<\/a>
California Post Sports Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, TikTok<\/a>, YouTube<\/a>, X<\/a>
California Post Opinion<\/a>
California Post Newsletters: Sign up here!<\/a>
California Post App: Download here!<\/a>
Home delivery: Sign up here!<\/a>
<\/a>Page Six Hollywood: Sign up here!<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t