Authorities in Youngstown and Utah named a suspect on Wednesday in a nearly quarter-of-a-century-old cold case involving the murder of a woman from the Valley.

Agencies have named her husband Edward Geddes as the person they believe shot Lina Reyes Geddes in the head, leaving her remains along Highway 276 near Maidenwater Spring in Garfield County, Utah.  The husband died by suicide in Nevada in 2001.

Edward Geddes was interviewed by Utah Police in October 1998. During the interview, Geddes claimed his wife had planned to fly from Pittsburgh and dropped her off at the airport.

He claimed that was the last time he saw her.

Her body, found in April 1998, was covered with plastic bags, wrapped in duct tape, tied with rope, and placed inside a sleeping bag before being wrapped in a carpet.

The chief investigator says her fingertips had purposely been cut off so that it would be difficult to identify her.

The body remained unidentified for two decades.

That changed in 2018 when agents with the Utah State Bureau of Investigation caught a break after they released a photo of the woman to the public.

An internet sleuth from California with no connection to the case, but who had an interest in unsolved crimes, noticed the mole in the right ear and told Utah authorities to contact Youngstown police about their missing case involving Reyes Geddes.

Reyes Geddes was last seen on April 8th of 1998 in Austintown where she lived with her husband. 

She was supposed to board a plane for Dallas, Texas, and then Laredo and ultimately travel to Mexico to stay with family. Reyes Geddes never arrived in Mexico.

According to the police report filed in Youngstown (because of a language barrier), Reyes Geddes wasn't reported missing until September by her husband and a family member who came here from Mexico. 

Using DNA from family members who traveled to Utah from San Luis Potosi, Mexico, Agents positively confirmed the woman’s identity as Reyes Geddes.

Much of the credit for work leading to the investigation goes to now-retired ATF Agent Bill Newell who played a critical role in the case, contacting and connecting with her surviving family members, and conducting the effort on his own time.

Authorities say further DNA testing along with new information has led them to the husband as the person they believe was responsible for Reyes Geddes’ death.