Family of Aspiring Model Found Dead in Dallas Decades Ago Reacts to Recent Arrest

It took nearly 40 years but an arrest has been made in connection with the murder of an aspiring model in Dallas.

Mary Jane Thompson, 21, was last seen leaving her part-time job as a hostess at a restaurant near Lovers Lane and Greenway Drive on February 11, 1984, at around 4:30 pm.

Her body was discovered two days later behind a warehouse on Irving Boulevard in west Dallas.

Thompson’s family says she was familiar with the area.

She worked a full-time job at a florist supply store nearby but was in the area on that Saturday trying to visit a clinic for an ear infection.

Thompson had moved to Dallas about six months before her murder, according to previous NBC 5 reports.

Thompson’s sister, Selena Tomasello, said Thompson relocated from her hometown of Buffalo, New York, to California to Houston before moving to Dallas in 1983.

Tomasello said her sister dreamed of becoming a model.

“She wanted that modeling career more than anything,” Tomasello told NBC 5.

Thompson was the third youngest of five sisters. Tomasello was the fourth and was 20 years old when Thompson died.

She said their father, Norman Thompson, delivered the news when Thompson died.

“I was crushed. It was so hard. I was, like, I just couldn't believe my sister was gone,” Tomasello said.

Prosecutors said Thompson had been sexually assaulted and that one of her legwarmers had been used to strangle her.

Her other legwarmer, they said, was found in a gym bag nearby along with Thompson’s id card.

NBC 5 spoke with Norman Thompson when he met with Dallas police detectives a year after his daughter's death.

“I want to put some effort in to see if I can get some justice,” Thompson said.

But the case went cold.

When Dallas police reopened the case in 2009, male DNA was discovered on swabs taken from Thompson’s autopsy.

But the DNA never matched a specific suspect, so the case went cold, again.

“I never gave up hope,” Tomasello said.

Then a few years ago, Tomasello said she called Dallas police and asked a cold case detective to reopen the case, again.

“I can never thank him enough for the work he did on it, like, if it weren't for him or the FBI, he wouldn't have been arrested,” Tomasello said.

Through a forensic genetic genealogy analysis - the same technology used to catch the Golden State Killer.

Prosecutors said Edward Morgan, 60, was identified as a suspect. He was arrested in February and charged with capital murder.

“I’ve been fighting cancer and I was in the waiting room and when I got the call, I was crying in the waiting room. People were looking at me like, what's wrong with her?” Tomasello recalled.

38 years after Thompson’s murder, Tomasello said justice is long overdue.

It may come too little too late for their late father who died two years ago.

“I know my sister can rest in peace now and my dad, because my dad wanted this more than anything,” Tomasello said.

Tomasello said her sister didn’t know Morgan, who until last month, didn't live far from where Thompson was found.

“So he must've either walked by there or drove by there all these years,” Tomasello said.

After all these years, she said she may know who killed her sister, but now she wants to know why.

“All I want is for you to tell me and my family why you did it. Why?” she asked.

An attorney representing Morgan told NBC 5 in a statement:

"The investigation into the allegations against Edward Morgan is ongoing. The case is currently not filed and there is no pending indictment, therefore any potential evidence is in the hands of law enforcement and the District Attorney's Office. We have no further comment at this time."