By Phil Helsel -
NBC News
A man was arrested Monday for the death of a woman in Delray Beach, Florida, 38 years ago, after a fingerprint was identified, authorities said.
Ralph Williams was arrested for the murder of 21-year-old Carla Lowe, whose body was found beaten and run over on a highway on November 13, 1983, according to police.
[This young woman was sexually assaulted and murdered 42 years ago in Las Vegas. A DNA test has solved the case]
Williams, 59, had been a person of interest in the murder for "quite some time," Delray Beach police unsolved case detective Todd Clancy made clear Tuesday at a news conference.
Technology from a UK-based company made it possible to identify the fingerprint from evidence left at the scene.
Carla Lowe Delray Police Department
“It was the advances in technology.
We couldn't get this fingerprint in the traditional way, ”Clancy explained.
Police declined to name the evidence, saying the case was still under investigation.
[The remains found in Minnesota are of Ashley Carlson, a mother who disappeared more than two months ago]
A grand jury in Palm Beach County, where the murder took place, found there was enough evidence for an arrest warrant for Williams, according to Delray Beach Police Chief Javaro Sims.
Williams, who now lives in Jacksonville, was incarcerated there and faces a first-degree murder charge, according to online records.