On August 10, 1987, Janice Christensen, a 31-year-old woman from Hudson, Ohio, was brutally attacked and killed while jogging along the Metro Bike Path in Hudson Township. She had gone for a morning jog, leaving her dog, Wolf, at home. When she did not return, her family became concerned, and her husband, Ken, along with the dog, eventually found her body the next day along the trail. Janice had been raped and fatally stabbed five times.
Her car and keys were missing, and the vehicle was later found abandoned in Bedford, Ohio, six days later.
At the time, the investigation faced numerous obstacles, primarily because DNA technology was still in its infancy. Despite a thorough search by the Hudson Police Department, no significant leads were found, and the case grew cold. In 2020, buoyed by new technological advancements, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) Cold Case Unit and Hudson detectives re-examined the evidence. They looked for similar cases across northeastern Ohio that could help solve Janice's case.
This renewed investigation led to a breakthrough: BCI connected Janice Christensen’s case to another crime that had occurred in May 1987 in Cuyahoga Falls, where a 17-year-old girl named Michelle Puett-Howard had been attacked under similar circumstances. DNA evidence from the Puett-Howard case was resubmitted to the FBI's Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) in 2022, which identified Thomas Collier Jordan as the perpetrator of both crimes. Jordan, a career criminal with an extensive history in Ohio, had died in 2009 in Arizona. His body was exhumed in 2024 to confirm the DNA match, conclusively linking him to both attacks.
The identification of Jordan brought a long-awaited resolution to both cases. Authorities believe that Jordan may have been involved in other crimes during his lifetime, given his history and the similar nature of his offenses. This breakthrough was made possible by the dedication of the Hudson and Cuyahoga Falls Police Departments, along with the expertise and persistence of the BCI Cold Case Unit, who used advanced forensic technology to finally bring justice to Janice and her family after nearly 37 years. The cooperation among multiple agencies and the use of modern DNA analysis exemplified the power of a multidisciplinary approach to solving cold cases.
The resolution of Janice Christensen's case brought a measure of closure to her loved ones, who had waited for answers for decades. The work of the Cold Case Unit continues, and information about Jordan is being shared nationwide to help solve other unsolved cases that might be linked to his criminal activities.
