TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — A 47-year-long cold case has been solved.

Indiana State student Pamela Milam’s body was found in the trunk of her car in September of 1972.

Terre Haute Police Chief Shawn Keen, who had been working on this investigation for the last 11 years, says new DNA evidence helped them link Jeffrey Lynn Hand to the murder.

Hand has been dead since 1978, when he was shot and killed by police in Kokomo, after kidnapping a woman and leading police on a chase.

Hand also kidnapped and killed a hitchhiker in 1973 in Vigo County, but was found not guilty of murder, by reason of insanity.

Milam’s family says they can’t thank Chief Keen and Terre Haute police enough for putting closure on the investigation.

Here is the complete police press conference: