NICHOLAS STOFER MURDERED ALIE BERRELEZ IN '93: COPS

UPDATE: Cops probing the unsolved 1993 kidnapping and murder of 5-year-old Alie Berrelez matched a DNA sample to a long dead suspect in the case. Nicholas Randolph Stofer was considered the killer as far back as February 1994, but prosecutors never felt enough evidence existed to file charges and his DNA had not previously been matched to evidence in the case. Stofer died of a drug overdose in 2001. Alie's family said: "Nick Stofer is no longer alive, but I am sure there is judgement, punishment, where he went."

MORE IN THE DENVER POST  EARLIER: Little Aleszandra "Alie" Berrelez was just 5-years-old when she vanished on May 18, 1993 from her apartment complex in Englewood, Colorado. Four days
later, her tiny body was found stuffed in a duffel bag that had been tossed down a ravine. She was dressed in the clothes she had disappeared in and had been smothered to death. Now, 18 years later cops say a DNA hit has finally led to a suspect in the horrendous murder. More details will be released later on Tuesday. Det. Brad Johnson said: "This break was due to the diligence of our detectives and their
persistence in solving this case. Detectives hung in there and with technology were able to do something with this case. We hope this will provide some closure to the family." When Alie disappeared, family and friends searched door to door in the neighborhood, but it was a police bloodhound named Yogi that tracked Alie's scent from the apartment complex 10 miles to the canyon. The day after Berrelez's body was found, Yogi returned to Deer Creek Canyon and traced the scent back to a neighborhood apartment in the Englewood complex where Berrelez. It has always been believed a neighbor committed the sinister crime. The only named suspect in the case was a man named Nicholas Randolph Stofer, 41, who lived in the complex. He died of natural causes in 2001. MORE FROM THE DENVER CHANNEL