On March 13, 1985, six-year-old Cambodian female Volith Long was found dead in a trash dumpster at the apartment complex where she lived in Austin, Texas. The child had last been seen playing in the complex between 5 and 7 p.m. that evening. Her body was discovered later that night, and investigators determined that she had been sexually assaulted and strangled.
The brutal nature of the crime shocked the community and left the family of the young Cambodian female devastated.
At the time of the murder, forensic technology was limited, and despite efforts by the Austin Police Department, the case went cold. For years, the murder of six-year-old Cambodian female Volith Long remained unsolved, with no suspects identified and no arrests made. The case was eventually transferred to the department’s cold case unit, which was established to revisit unsolved homicides using modern investigative techniques.
In 2001, a breakthrough came after a tip was received from a retired schoolteacher following renewed media attention on the case. Cold case detectives re-examined the evidence using updated DNA and fingerprint analysis. These efforts led to the identification of Doeur Seoung, a Cambodian male who was already serving a life sentence in California for a 1998 double homicide. DNA and fingerprint evidence linked him directly to the 1985 murder of six-year-old Cambodian female Volith Long.
Doeur Seoung was ultimately charged and convicted for the murder of the child. His criminal history revealed a pattern of violent behavior, and authorities described him as a serial murderer. The resolution of the case brought a measure of justice to the family of six-year-old Cambodian female Volith Long after more than 15 years of uncertainty. The case remains a powerful example of how persistence and advancements in forensic science can bring long-awaited answers to even the most tragic and long-standing crimes.
