The Arlington Police Department announced the 1985 cold case murder of a UT-Arlington student has finally been solved.

Terri McAdams, 22, was found savagely beaten to death inside her fiancé's apartment located on West Division Street on Feb. 14, 1985, according to previous NBC 5 reports.

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Despite thousands of leads, no arrests had been made and the case went cold.

Using genetic genealogy, Arlington police, and the FBI identified the man they say killed Terri McAdams nearly 40 years ago. Police released the findings in a news conference attended by the victim's family on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. Speaking at the news conference were Arlington Chief of Police Al Jones, Arlington police detective Devon Coffer, Chad Yarbrough, special agent in charge of the Dallas Field Office and relatives of Terri McAdams, younger sister Karen Hopper, younger sister Pamela McInnis, brother-in-law Brad Hopper and step-mother Carol Ann McAdams.


On Wednesday, Arlington Chief of Police Al Jones was joined by Detective Devon Coffer and FBI Dallas special agent in charge Chad Yarbrough to announce a break in the 40-year-old case and the identification of a suspect.

It is a day McAdams' family thought would never come.

 After so many long years, we had come to grips to accept that we would probably never know who murdered our sister,  said Karen Hopper, McAdam's younger sister.

The 22-year-old had been beaten and raped. Her attacker managed to enter the ground floor apartment through a sliding door, according to Arlington police.

At the time, detectives said McAdams' engagement ring was taken during the attack. Police alerted area pawn shops to the missing ring at the time. Her alleged killer also left behind a distinctive shoeprint outside her home, according to police.

McAdams' younger sister Karen Hopper says her family had come to terms that police would never the person responsible for the brutal attack.

Their parents have since died.

 We had given up hope,  said Ho
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