DNA analysis leads to arrest of man for stealing camp trailer

By Dan Thesman on Friday, August 23rd, 2024 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories

MILTON-FREEWATER – The Milton-Freewater Police Department arrested Byron Adels, 33, Tuesday for parole violation and first-degree theft.

Police Chief Joe Shurtz said this initially stemmed from a call of a stolen camp trailer back on Nov. 3, 2022. The camp trailer was located a short time later in the Hermiston area.

Items which did not belong to the victim were located inside the camp trailer and swabbed for DNA and sent to the Oregon State Police Crime Lab for analysis.

In June of this year, MFPD received a possible DNA match that belonged to Adels. Detectives obtained a search warrant for a DNA standard, which was sent to the crime lab for comparison. Adels was then interviewed and arrested.