Ada County officials have reopened a 1980 murder case. Here's why they closed it

Mary Tracy was last seen on June 24, 1980 in Garden City. Two days later, her body was found along Idaho Highway 55 north of Eagle, with stab wounds to her neck and chest.

For more than four decades, her case was uninteresting and had few answers.

The Ada County Sheriff's Office reopened her file last August, according to a news release sent out Friday. Law enforcement organized and investigated the case and its evidence, submitted a sexual assault DNA kit to the Idaho State Police Forensic Laboratory, and conducted follow-up interviews.

“After examining several leads from the initial investigation, our cold case investigator identified a possible suspect – Charles Nicholas Strain,” the release said.

In June 2024, the state laboratory reported that Strain was a “likely contributor” to the male DNA found in Tracy's body. One DNA sample had a odds ratio for strain of one in 522 octillion and the other had a odds ratio of one in 1.37 quadrillion, sheriff's office spokeswoman Lauren Montague told the Idaho Statesman.

Strain died in 2007 while in a Utah prison for the 1981 murder of his stepdaughter.

As a result, the Ada County case involving Tracy's murder is now closed, Friday's news release said.

However, authorities still want to speak to anyone who worked at the former Sunliner Motel on Chinden Boulevard in Garden City in the summer of 1980. Law enforcement is trying to find a friend of Tracy's, known only by her first name, Lisa.

Anyone with information can call 208-577-3102 or email Deputy Montague at [email protected].