WELD COUNTY, Colorado — Law enforcement authorities investigating the cold case murder of a woman in Colorado confirmed an arrest Friday.
Kay Daye was 29-years-old when she went missing in late November of 1979, according to Weld County Sheriff Steve Reams. The business lab monitor was working nights at a community college in Greeley when she was last seen alive by a student on November 26, 1979, according to Reams.
The following day, two of her co-workers found her 1977 Datsun station wagon parked on the eastbound shoulder in the 5700 Block of of 20th Street, three blocks from the Aimes Community College Campus.
The co-workers also discovered her body inside. She had been beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled to death with the cloth belt of her own coat, according to Reams.
For more than 41-years, her family and friends have waited for law enforcement to bring the killer to justice.
On Tuesday, two Weld County Deputies traveled to Wichita and arrested a 64-year-old suspect identified as James Herman Dye for the murder. This follows a detective who reopened the investigation in May of 2020, according to Reams.
Dye has been charged with murder in the first-degree, according to the Weld County Attorney. The extradition process that will move Dye from Kansas to Colorado is also underway.
Investigators said at a Friday news conference that Dye was also a student at the community college where the victim worked. DNA evidence linked him to the crime.