BULLHEAD CITY, Ariz. — A decades-old cold case out of California has led to an arrest in northwest Arizona, as authorities say a man living in Bullhead City is now facing charges in a brutal 1991 kidnapping and murder.

The Placer County Sheriff’s Office announced Monday that 64-year-old James Lawhead Jr. has been taken into custody in connection with the murder of Cindy Wanner. Investigators say Lawhead had been living in Bullhead City under the alias Vincent Reynolds.

Sheriff Wayne Woo described the case as one of the most notorious in the county’s history.

Cindy Wanner was reported missing on Nov. 25, 1991, after she went to clean her sister’s home in Granite Bay, a suburb of Sacramento. Hours later, her husband and young daughter arrived to find Wanner gone. Her 11-month-old child had been left behind, strapped in a high chair and crying. Wanner’s shoes, coat, and vehicle were still at the home.

Her disappearance remained a mystery until her remains were discovered weeks later in a wooded area near Foresthill. Authorities determined she had been held for a period of time before being sexually assaulted and strangled.

For years, the case went cold with no strong leads. Recently, however, investigators utilized modern DNA technology, submitting evidence to a crime lab in Contra Costa County. The results identified Lawhead as a person of interest.

Lawhead has a violent criminal history. In 1980, he was convicted after breaking into a 71-year-old woman’s home, assaulting her, and sexually assaulting her 11-year-old granddaughter. He served 11 years of a 19-year sentence and was released in early 1991—just months before Wanner’s disappearance.

Authorities say Lawhead later had additional run-ins with the law, including an arrest for failing to register as a sex offender and a weapons charge in 2005. He disappeared before facing trial in that case.

Investigators spent years tracking possible leads, unsure whether Lawhead was alive, had fled the country, or was living under a false identity. The break in the case came with assistance from an analyst with the Scottsdale Police Department, who used Arizona Department of Transportation records and facial recognition technology to match Lawhead to a current identity.

Lawhead was arrested last Friday in the driveway of his Bullhead City home with assistance from the Bullhead City Police Department. Authorities say they recovered loaded firearms, $15,000 in cash, and a burner phone from the residence.

He is currently being held at the Mohave County Jail awaiting extradition to California, where he faces charges of murder and kidnapping.

Investigators also arrested his 71-year-old sister, Terry Lawhead, in California as an accessory. Officials say she owned the Arizona home where Lawhead had been living.

Authorities are now working to retrace Lawhead’s movements over the past two decades, including time spent in Washington, Oregon, and Arizona, to determine whether he may be connected to additional crimes.

Officials say the arrest brings renewed hope for justice in a case that has remained unsolved for more than 30 years.