Who Is David Allen Snyder? Florida Keys Cold Case Double Murder

David Allen Snyder has been identified by Florida authorities as the suspect in the 1973 murders of teenage sisters Marguerite “Maggie” Jenkins and Mary Jenkins in the Florida Keys. Maggie, 18, and Mary, 16, had traveled from New Jersey to Key West for a vacation and were last seen hitchhiking on Stock Island on May 2, 1973. Their bodies were discovered the following day in a wooded area near U.S. 1 in Key Largo. More than five decades later, investigators used DNA evidence and forensic genetic genealogy to identify Snyder. Authorities say Snyder lived in Key West around the time of the killings. He died in Idaho in 2008 at age 57.

Maggie And Mary Jenkins Disappear

Maggie And Mary Jenkins Traveled To The Florida Keys In April 1973. Marguerite “Maggie” Jenkins, 18, and her 16-year-old sister Mary traveled from New Jersey to Key West for a vacation. [FDLE] [NBC 6]

The Sisters Were Last Seen Hitchhiking On Stock Island. Investigators say Maggie and Mary were last seen alive on May 2, 1973. [FDLE]

Bodies Found In Key Largo

The Sisters Were Found Dead The Following Day. On May 3, 1973, a local resident discovered Maggie and Mary in a wooded area approximately 100 yards from U.S. 1 near Mile Marker 99.5 in Key Largo. [FDLE] [Local 10]

Both Sisters Had Been Severely Beaten. Investigators also determined that Maggie and Mary appeared to have suffered gunshot wounds. [FDLE]

Murder Investigation Goes Cold

Investigators Were Unable To Identify A Suspect In 1973. Despite the circumstances surrounding the sisters’ deaths, the original investigation did not produce a suspect and the double homicide remained unsolved for decades. [FDLE]

The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Continued To Treat The Killings As A Cold Case. The investigation was eventually revisited as advances in forensic DNA technology created new opportunities to analyze evidence preserved from the crime scene. [Florida Sheriffs Association]

DNA Evidence From Crime Scene

Investigators Reexamined DNA Evidence In 2018. FDLE forensic scientists developed additional markers from a partial male DNA profile obtained from a bloodstain found on the underwear of one of the sisters. [FDLE]

The DNA Profile Was Uploaded To The National CODIS Database. Investigators expanded the profile and submitted it through the Combined DNA Index System in an effort to identify the unknown male. [FDLE]

The CODIS Search Did Not Produce A Match. The case remained unresolved despite the improved DNA profile. [FDLE]

Genetic Genealogy Investigation

FDLE Accepted The Case For Genetic Genealogy Work In 2023. The department’s Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy Program began applying newer DNA and genealogy techniques to the evidence. [FDLE]

FDLE Worked With Othram To Develop A New DNA Profile. Investigators created a single nucleotide polymorphism, or SNP, profile suitable for forensic genetic genealogy research. [FDLE]

The Profile Was Submitted To Genetic-Genealogy Databases. FDLE investigators then conducted genealogical research and constructed family trees in an effort to identify the person who left the DNA. [FDLE]

David Allen Snyder Identified As Possible Suspect

The Genealogy Investigation Led Authorities To David Allen Snyder. FDLE’s family-tree research identified Snyder as a possible source of the unidentified male DNA. [FDLE]

Investigators Determined Snyder Had Lived In Key West Around The Time Of The Murders. Authorities linked him to several residences in Key West between 1972 and 1974, placing him in the area when Maggie and Mary were killed in May 1973. [FDLE] [Local 10]

Relative’s DNA Confirms Snyder

Investigators Obtained DNA From One Of Snyder’s Relatives In 2026. The sample was sent to the FDLE crime laboratory for comparison with the evidence from the murder investigation. [FDLE]

FDLE Says The Testing Confirmed Snyder As The Suspect. The laboratory results established that Snyder was the source linked to the male DNA profile recovered from the crime-scene evidence, according to authorities. [FDLE] [NBC 6]

Authorities Publicly Identified Snyder On September 2, 2026. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Monroe County Sheriff’s Office announced that they consider David Allen Snyder the suspect responsible for the deaths of Maggie and Mary Jenkins. [FDLE] [Local 10]

David Allen Snyder Died In 2008

Snyder Died Before Investigators Identified Him. Authorities determined that Snyder died in Idaho on October 28, 2008. [Local 10]

Snyder Was 57 Years Old When He Died. Local 10 reported that he died of natural causes in Mountain View, Idaho. [Local 10]

Snyder Cannot Be Arrested Or Prosecuted For The Killings. His death occurred approximately 18 years before investigators announced that DNA and genetic genealogy had identified him as the suspect.

Cold Case Solved After More Than 50 Years

Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay Said The Identification Provides Answers To The Jenkins Family. Ramsay credited detectives in the sheriff’s Major Crimes Division and the FDLE for continuing to pursue the case more than five decades after the murders. [Local 10]

FDLE Commissioner Mark Glass Cited Advances In Forensic Technology. Glass said the department would continue using available technology and investigative resources to seek answers in violent crimes regardless of how much time has passed. [FDLE]

Case Status

Florida Authorities Identify David Allen Snyder As The Suspect In Both Murders. The September 2026 announcement follows forensic DNA testing, genetic genealogy research and confirmation from DNA obtained from Snyder’s relative. [FDLE]

There Will Be No Criminal Trial Because Snyder Is Dead. Snyder died in 2008, years before investigators developed the genetic-genealogy evidence that identified him.

The Identification Ends One Of The Florida Keys’ Decades-Old Cold Cases. Maggie and Mary Jenkins were killed in May 1973, meaning the breakthrough came more than 53 years after their deaths. [FDLE]