BOWIE, Mont. — Police have identified the person they believe killed 15-year-old Danielle Houchins at a famous fishing access site a few miles south of Belgrade almost 28 years ago. The crime has not been solved yet.
Investigators, family members, and other people who know the case well told the Montana Free Press that cutting-edge forensic DNA genome sequencing and forensic genetic genealogy recently helped them find Paul Nathaniel Hutchinson, 55, of Dillon as the person they say killed Houchins.
at a press meeting in Bozeman on Thursday that was streamed live on the department’s Facebook page, Gallatin County Sheriff Dan Springer said that was true.
Springer says Hutchinson killed himself on July 24, 10 hours after Gallatin County detectives met him outside of his Beaverhead County office to talk about Houchins’ death. A few days later, DNA evidence found on Hutchinson’s body after he had died matched DNA evidence found on Houchins’ body. This gave Springer “100% confirmation” that Hutchinson was the killer.
Authorities say they didn’t know about Hutchinson before. He worked as a fisheries scientist for the Bureau of Land Management for a long time and was based in the agency’s Dillon Field Office. Hutchinson had been living under the radar of police about 100 miles southwest of the crime scene until new forensic DNA technology and a genetic genealogist in West Virginia linked him to Houchins. Hutchinson was an avid outdoorsman and family man with a 22-year marriage and two adult children.
Springer said that the police had just recently told Hutchinson’s family what they had found.
MTFP talked to Springer, who said, “I feel bad for the Hutchinson family.” “Of course, they didn’t know, and in many ways, they are also victims of this man.”
Police and the victim’s sister told MTFP that they don’t think Hutchinson was dating Houchins. Investigators say that Hutchinson was a student at Montana State University in Bozeman at the time of Houchins’ death. They said it was likely by chance that he met Houchins, who was thought to be alone at the time at the Cameron Bridge Fishing Access Site. The attack, which police and the victim’s family said was a sexual assault, may have been a “crime of opportunity,” according to the police.
Dani Houchins asked her mom on September 21, 1996, if she could drive to the Cameron Bridge Fishing Access spot to get some fresh air after a family fight.
She had on a gray sweatshirt and blue pants. She wore a knee brace on her left knee because she hurt it while dancing with friends at a street dance a few weeks before.
Her mom and a friend went looking for her when she didn’t come home when they thought she would. The police found her unlocked truck in the parking lot of a famous recreation area. They also found her water bottle and car keys nearby. There was a mad search for Danni for two hours. They called the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office around 5 p.m.
Soon after, amateur searchers and Gallatin County Search and Rescue arrived at the scene. The search went on until it got dark, at which point it became unsafe for people to walk around in the wooded and wet area.
One of the brothers’ children was friends with Houchins’ sister and asked them to keep looking. The brothers lived close and knew the area well. One of the brothers found Houchins’ dead body after looking for about 45 minutes. She was on her back in a small pool of water.
Later, the state medical officer said Houchins had drowned and that the cause of death was “unknown.”
Springer joined the police force five days before Houchins died. He and many other people in his department have always been troubled by the case, he said.
Springer said, “People have taken it up and tried to run with it wherever they could, and things have gotten cold over time.” “The case was reopened by the sheriff’s office in 2019 and more DNA tests were done. Then I became sheriff in 2021 and I just thought we needed some new eyes on this.” One who has had different experiences, knows different things and has new eyes.
In March 2023, Springer and Sheriff’s Department Captain Eric Paulson had lunch with Tom Elfmont to talk about the case. Elfmont used to be a captain in the Los Angeles Police Department and now runs a global security company and lives near Bozeman full-time. Paulson knew about Elfmont through a common friend.
Springer said, “He was interested, and he was sworn in as a special service deputy with all the power and tools he needed to solve this one.”
Elfmont told MTFP that he and another investigator talked to Hutchinson for almost two hours on July 23. He talked to MTFP a lot over the past week to give them specific information about his investigation into Houchins’ death. Elfmont said they talked to Hutchinson outside the Dillon BLM office while he and two other people were unloading a pickup.
“Say hello to Paul. I work for the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office and I’d like to talk to you for a minute.” Elfmont said in a recent talk. “He turned white.”