Genealogy

Kevin Konther, 53, was taken into custody on Thursday at his home in Southern California and booked on suspicion of rape, kidnapping and child sexual abuse, Orange County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Carrie Braun said. One of the victims was nine years old at the time of the attack. Konther was identified as a suspect by sheriff’s detectives using techniques similar to those used in recent years to help solve a number of older crimes. Last year, a 73-year-old former police officer was arrested over the ‘Golden State Killer’ string of murders and rapes across California in the 1970s and 1980s.

The young American couple set out on a trip in 1987, speeding toward Seattle, Washington, in a gold van, when they crossed paths with a killer. The man raped Tanya Van Cuylenborg and shot her in the head. Jay Cook was beaten and strangled. The killer left a pair of plastic gloves inside their vehicle, a gesture one detective interpreted as a taunt: You'll never catch me.  That was true for more than three decades.

Beginning genealogy questions are frequent at the Green Valley-Sahuarita Genealogy Library. Researching, documenting, and growing a family tree might seem like a huge, lifelong endeavor. Some say “Cousin Harry” did it 10 years, until he couldn’t find any more information. There are those who think it will be costly. A few fear it may become addictive. Others just aren’t interested in researching, but can relate a lengthy story about a great-grandparent who emigrated to America and officials changed his name at Ellis Island. Note: Name changing at Ellis Island will be addressed in a future Genealogy Today column.