Bombshell new DNA evidence in 43-year-old Kerryn Tate murder mystery

A $1m reward is on offer for information leading to the conviction of those responsible for the 1979 death of Kerryn Tate.

New evidence has been uncovered in the 43-year-old investigation into the murder of a young woman in the Perth Hills.

Western Australia Police on Wednesday revealed their ongoing probe into the 1979 death of 22-year-old Kerryn Tate has identified an unknown male DNA profile.

WA Police handout photo of Kerryn Tate, whose body was found in bushland off Brookton Hwy, Karragullen, in December 1979.

“She was last seen alive at 11am on December 29, 1979, when she was dropped home by a friend to Mount Lawley,“ Detective Senior Sergeant Steve Potter said in a media conference on Thursday.

“We believe Kerryn intended to travel to Karragullen that same afternoon to house-sit for friends.

“Sadly it appears that she never got there because on Sunday 30 December at 10:30am, Kerryn’s body was found in dense bushland about 800m off the Brookton Highway.”

Mr Potter said detectives are now using “all technology available” to try and identify the owner of the DNA strand.

Special Crime Squad detectives now want to speak to anyone who may have seen Kerryn on the afternoon of December 29, or given her a lift out to Karragullen, about 30km southeast of the Perth CBD, that same day.

Forestry workers found the 22-year-old's body on the morning of Sunday, December 30, 1979.

“We are very keen to speak to people we have not spoken to in this matter,” Mr Potter said, “anyone who knew Kerryn or associated with her in 1979 or anybody who may have given Kerryn a lift to Karragullen or from Mount Lawley.

“Just recently the WA government has offered a $1m reward in cases like this, and that’s life changing … but more importantly it has the ability to change the lives of Kerryn’s family, who deserve to know what happened to their daughter, their sister, and her child.”

The WA government in May announced the $1m reward for new information into a number of cold cases being investigated by WA Police — which included Kerryn’s case.