Hubert Tillett, right, brother of William Tillett, stands behind a display showing his brother, bottom left, during a news conference Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019, in Inglewood, Calif. Authorities say a 50-year-old man is in custody in connection with the kidnapping and killing of then 11-year-old William Tillett in Southern California nearly three decades ago. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
SANTA ANA, Calif. – The Latest on cold-case arrests in the separate killings of a boy and girl in California (all times local):
5 p.m.
Authorities say a man charged with killing an 11-year-old Inglewood boy in 1990 didn't act alone.
At a Wednesday news conference, the police chief of the Los Angeles suburb and the brother of victim William Tillett asked anyone who might have information on the killing to come forward.
The boy disappeared while walking home from school. He was later found suffocated.
Authorities have charged 50-year-old Edward Thomas with kidnapping and killing the boy but believe he had help.
Chief Mark Fronterotta didn't discuss details of how Thomas was linked to the slaying but said it involved old evidence and "advanced technology."
The announcement came on the same day that authorities announced the arrest of a Colorado man for the 1973 murder of an 11-year-old girl from Newport Beach.
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10:46 p.m.
Authorities have arrested a man on suspicion of killing a Southern California girl more than 45 years ago.
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said at a press conference Wednesday that 72-year-old James Neal was arrested in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in the death of 11-year-old Linda O'Keefe in Newport Beach.
Linda disappeared on July 6, 1973. She was last seen walking home from summer school, and her body was found the next day.
The district attorney says the arrest involved use of DNA found on the victim, genealogical DNA and detective work that led to acquiring DNA from the suspect during surveillance.
Authorities say Neal lived in Southern California in the 1970s.
The victim's parents have died, but her two sisters have been told about the arrest.
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