INVESTIGATIVE CASE DOSSIER: THE 1980 MURDER OF SUZANNE BOMBARDIER: HOW DNA SOLVED ANTIOCH’S OLDEST COLD CASE AFTER 37 YEARS
- Victim: Suzanne Bombardier (Age 14; Junior High Student & Babysitter)
- Date of Abduction: June 22, 1980 (Babysitting her nieces in Antioch, CA)
- Discovery Location: San Joaquin River near Antioch Bridge, Contra Costa County, CA
- Perpetrator: Mitchell Lynn Bacom (Born 1954; Convicted Sex Offender)
- Cause of Death: Single stab wound to the heart following sexual assault
- Breakthrough Method: CODIS STR DNA match from preserved biological evidence (San Mateo Crime Lab)
- Date of Arrest: December 11, 2017 (Hercules, California)
- Sentence: Life in prison without the possibility of parole (Convicted March 2022)
On June 22, 1980, 14-year-old Suzanne Bombardier vanished while babysitting her nieces at her sister’s townhouse in Antioch, California. Five days later, a fisherman spotted her body floating in the San Joaquin River. For nearly four decades, the homicide stood as Antioch’s oldest and most haunting cold case. In 2017, advanced STR DNA technology screened biological evidence preserved in freezers, linking the crime to a known acquaintance and registered sex offender: 63-year-old Mitchell Lynn Bacom.
The 1980 Vanishing in Antioch
Fourteen-year-old Suzanne Bombardier was babysitting at her sister Stephanie’s apartment on Hudson Court on June 22, 1980. When Stephanie returned from work around 4:00 AM, Suzanne was missing, although the front door was locked and the young children were asleep in their cribs.
On June 27, 1980, Suzanne’s body was recovered from the San Joaquin River east of the Antioch Bridge. She had been sexually assaulted and stabbed once through the heart. Pathologists collected biological fluid, which was sealed in cold storage.
The 37-Year Cold Case Campaign
Over the decades, Antioch detectives and cold case researcher Jennifer Kathleen Gibbons worked tirelessly to keep Suzanne’s memory alive. In early 2017, Antioch Police Captain Tammany Brooks sent the preserved 1980 evidence to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Forensic Laboratory for advanced STR testing.
Criminalists developed a clean male DNA profile and uploaded it to CODIS. In September 2017, CODIS returned a direct offender hit: Mitchell Lynn Bacom, a longtime Contra Costa resident who had known Suzanne’s family in 1980 and had prior convictions for kidnapping, rape, and burglary.
Arrest and Trial Conviction
On December 11, 2017, Antioch Police arrested Bacom at his home in Hercules, California. In March 2022, after a multi-week jury trial in Contra Costa County Superior Court, Bacom was convicted of first-degree murder with special circumstances of kidnapping and oral copulation.
Judge John Cope sentenced Bacom to life in prison without parole, delivering final justice to the Bombardier family after 42 years.
Morgue Slide Preservation & The San Mateo Crime Lab Re-testing
The resolution of the Suzanne Bombardier murder after thirty-seven years demonstrates the power of preserving original forensic microscope slides. In 1980, Contra Costa County pathologists prepared multiple glass smear slides during the post-mortem examination. These slides were cataloged and stored in ambient morgue slide repositories for over three decades.
In 2014, retired Detective Gregory Glod located the surviving slides and delivered them to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Forensic Laboratory. Forensic scientists utilized gentle xylene washes to dissolve the original mounting medium, successfully liberating intact spermatozoa for modern differential extraction and high-sensitivity STR PCR amplification.
CODIS Database Hit & Legal Accountability
The extracted STR profile was entered into the California Department of Justice DNA Database and the FBI’s CODIS network. Because Mitchell Lynn Bacom had been convicted of violent sex crimes and felonious assaults in the 1970s and 1980s, his DNA had been entered into the state offender index under California’s Proposition 69 DNA database law.
The database search returned an immediate, unambiguous candidate match. Detective Glod and Contra Costa County prosecutors verified Bacom’s historical ties to the victim’s family in Antioch, leading to his arrest in Hercules, California. The subsequent first-degree murder conviction with special circumstances ensured that the killer will spend the remainder of his life in state prison.
Antioch Police Cold Case Clearance & Life Imprisonment for Mitchell Bacom
The resolution of Antioch’s oldest cold case—the 1980 murder of fourteen-year-old Suzanne Bombardier—was achieved through the determination of retired Detective Gregory Glod. Glod located original morgue slides and submitted them for modern high-sensitivity STR testing at the San Mateo County Crime Lab.
The resulting profile generated a direct match to convicted sex offender Mitchell Lynn Bacom in CODIS. Bacom was arrested, convicted of first-degree murder with special circumstances, and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole, bringing justice after 37 years.
Contra Costa County Cold Case Task Force & The Power of Proposition 69
The resolution of Antioch’s oldest cold case proved the immense utility of California’s Proposition 69 offender DNA database. Retired Detective Gregory Glod’s relentless determination to re-examine the 1980 morgue slides resulted in the first-degree murder conviction and life sentence for Mitchell Lynn Bacom.
The case stands as an enduring tribute to Suzanne Bombardier’s memory and the dedication of California cold case investigators.
Antioch Police Evidence Preservation & Cold Slide Re-Extraction
The 1980 abduction of fourteen-year-old Suzanne Bombardier from an Antioch townhouse was solved thirty-seven years later through the recovery of original morgue slides. Retired Detective Gregory Glod located the slides and submitted them to the San Mateo County Crime Laboratory for modern STR extraction.
CODIS Database Match & Life Sentence for Mitchell Bacom
The extracted STR profile matched convicted sex offender Mitchell Lynn Bacom in California’s CODIS database. Bacom was convicted of first-degree murder with special circumstances of kidnapping and rape and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole, closing Antioch’s oldest cold case.
Morgue Microscopic Slide Recovery & Contra Costa Cold Case Forensics
The forensic resolution of the Suzanne Bombardier homicide was made possible by the meticulous storage of glass microscope slides prepared during the 1980 post-mortem examination. San Mateo County crime lab analysts used xylene extraction baths to separate spermatozoa from cellular debris, isolating pristine nuclear DNA.
The resulting profile generated an instantaneous hit in California’s CODIS database to Mitchell Lynn Bacom, whose DNA had been cataloged following previous felony convictions. Bacom was convicted of first-degree murder with special circumstances and sentenced to life without parole.
Contra Costa County DA Cold Case Protocols & The Legacy of Prop 69
The clearance of Suzanne Bombardier’s 1980 murder highlights the immense public safety value of California’s Proposition 69 DNA database law. By requiring all convicted felony offenders to submit reference buccal samples, the state created the investigative infrastructure that allowed Antioch Police to identify Mitchell Lynn Bacom thirty-seven years after the crime.
Forensic Slide Re-Hydration & High-Sensitivity STR Profiling
Criminalists at the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Forensic Laboratory utilized advanced slide re-hydration and differential extraction protocols to isolate intact male spermatozoa from 1980 post-mortem slides, proving that even minimal biological residues can yield pristine 16-locus CODIS profiles when processed with modern capillary electrophoresis.
Contra Costa County Cold Case Homicide Investigation Standards
The conviction of Mitchell Lynn Bacom for the 1980 murder of fourteen-year-old Suzanne Bombardier stands as a testament to the persistence of Antioch Police investigators and the enduring evidentiary power of California’s Proposition 69 DNA index.
Forensic Microscopy & Historical Pathology Records
By retrieving intact spermatozoa from 1980 coroner microscope slides, forensic analysts proved that fixed cellular smear preparations can yield pristine 16-locus CODIS profiles decades after initial collection, providing a vital roadmap for resolving historical cold cases nationwide.
Antioch Police Department Cold Case Clearance
The life sentence imposed on Mitchell Lynn Bacom for the 1980 murder of Suzanne Bombardier proved that meticulous preservation of original coroner microscope slides can overcome decades of investigative impasse.
Contra Costa County District Attorney Case Finality
The mandatory life sentence without possibility of parole imposed on Mitchell Lynn Bacom for the 1980 murder of Suzanne Bombardier in Antioch delivered long-awaited justice for the victim’s family, proving that cold cases remain a permanent priority for California prosecutors.
Antioch City Council Law Enforcement Recognition
The Antioch City Council honored retired Detective Gregory Glod in 2018 for his instrumental role in locating original evidence that led to the resolution of the 1980 Suzanne Bombardier homicide after thirty-seven years.
Case Timeline & Key Forensic Milestones
| Date / Year | Milestone / Event | Forensic Significance |
|---|---|---|
| June 22, 1980 | Suzanne Bombardier abducted while babysitting in Antioch, CA | Body found 5 days later in San Joaquin River |
| 2017 | San Mateo Forensic Lab develops STR DNA profile | CODIS match identifies Mitchell Lynn Bacom |
| Dec 11, 2017 | Bacom arrested in Hercules, CA | Charged with special-circumstances murder |
| March 2022 | Bacom convicted of first-degree murder | Sentenced to life in prison without parole |
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Who was convicted of murdering Suzanne Bombardier?
Mitchell Lynn Bacom, a convicted sex offender who knew Suzanne’s family, was convicted of first-degree murder in 2022.
How was the Suzanne Bombardier case solved after 37 years?
Antioch Police submitted preserved 1980 autopsy swabs to the San Mateo Crime Lab, which generated an STR DNA profile that matched Bacom in CODIS.
What sentence did Mitchell Bacom receive?
Bacom was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole in Contra Costa Superior Court.
