On 27/3/1978, 15-year-old Marissa Rolf Harvey disappeared after going to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco to ride horses.
The next day, Marissa's body was discovered in a bush at Sutro Heights Park, near Golden Gate Park. She had been strangled and showed signs of sexual assault.
At the scene, investigators found a blood-stained leaf belonging to Marissa along with an earring, suggesting she was likely attacked there. An autopsy revealed multiple injuries consistent with a violent assault and sexual abuse.
The investigation spanned decades without identifying the perpetrator. In the early 2000s, DNA testing technology detected a male DNA profile on Marissa's sweater, jeans, and notably, on a dried piece of chewing gum stuck to the victim's back.
Despite police reviewing leads, the case remained unsolved.
In 10/2020, the San Francisco Police Department's cold case homicide unit reopened the investigation, utilizing advanced DNA testing methods.
In 2021, investigative genetic genealogy helped police identify Mark Stanley Personette, then residing in Colorado, as a potential suspect.
The FBI then tracked Mark, observing him discarding trash in a supermarket parking lot, which included personal hygiene items containing his DNA.
During a search of Mark's home, police discovered San Francisco maps from the 1970s and a set of California license plates with a 1979 registration sticker. This detail was significant because Mark had previously denied ever visiting San Francisco.
Subsequent DNA tests confirmed Mark's DNA matched samples found on Marissa's sweater, jeans, and the dried chewing gum on her back.
Mark was arrested in 12/2021.
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Mark Stanley Personette in photos taken after his arrests in 1979 and 2021. *Photo: San Francisco PD* |
In 11/2025, a jury convicted Mark of first-degree murder in Marissa's case.
During the trial, another victim testified that in 1979, about one and a half years after Marissa's death, Mark raped her in a wooded area in New Jersey when she was 16 years old.
On 30/9, Mark, 80 years old, was sentenced to life in prison, eligible for parole after 7 years.
Prosecutors stated that the sentence cannot bring Marissa back to her family, but they hoped it would give her loved ones a sense that justice was served.
Tue Anh (according to Nypost, SFDA)
