By Tim Stelloh -
NBC News
A North Carolina man was charged Thursday with kidnapping and killing a 4-year-old girl who disappeared from her home in South Carolina 35 years ago, authorities said.
Thomas McDowell, 61, faces murder, kidnapping and first-degree robbery charges
in the 1986 disappearance of Jessica Gutierrez, the Lexington County Sheriff's Office announced in a news release.
Jessica Gutierrez, the 4-year-old girl who disappeared from her North Carolina home 35 years ago Lexington County Sheriff's Office
McDowell was arrested after state and local investigators conducted 125 new interviews and reviewed thousands of pages of files from various cases, according to the department.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was also involved in the investigation.
“Thanks to the work we did, coming together as a team, we were able to sort and place more pieces of the puzzle than what happened to Jessica so many years ago,” said Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon.
Adam Myrick, a spokesman for the sheriff's office, declined to provide additional details about what led to McDowell's arrest in the town of Wake Forest, North Carolina.
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The News & Observer, a North Carolina newspaper reported that McDowell's fingerprints were found at Gutiérrez's home, according to an arrest warrant obtained by the outlet.
Jessica disappeared on June 6, 1986.
In a video from the sheriff's office, her mother, Debra Gutiérrez, said a year ago that she put her daughter to bed and that when she woke up the next morning the girl was gone.
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"You don't understand it," Gutiérrez explained.
"Everything happens like a whirlwind," he insisted.
Gutierrez's other children did not see the girl and a search of the family, followed by a police investigation did not provide clues to her disappearance, Sgt. David Pritchard, the sheriff's principal investigator, said in the video.
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Authorities later discovered that someone had broken into the home and taken it away, Pritchard said.
Jessica's body was never found
, The News & Observer reported.
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Gutiérrez assured the newspaper that she was relieved that the arrest was made.
"I'm happy that God allowed me to see it," she said.
"I prayed that he would help me in this process and we have waited a long time for this," he added.
It is unclear if McDowell has an attorney.
He remains in the Wake County Detention Center, authorities said.