On February 2, 1990, 32-year-old Pamela Faye "Pam" Pate Felkins, , was abducted from her workplace, Crossroads Video store in Greenbrie located about 40 miles northwest of Little Rock in Faulkner County.
Her body was discovered late the following morning, February 3, 1990, at a dump site off Clinton Mountain Road in McGintytown, also in Faulkner County. The autopsy revealed she had been raped and violently murdered, marking the beginning of a complex investigation led by the Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office.
The initial investigation involved multiple agencies, including the 20th Judicial Prosecuting Attorney's Office, Arkansas State Police, Greenbrier Police Department, Conway Police Department, Faulkner County Coroner's Office, Arkansas State Crime Lab, medical examiner's office, and FBI.
Despite these efforts, the case went cold, leaving the community and Felkins' family, buried at Crestlawn Memorial Park in Conway, without resolution for nearly 30 years.
In 2018, driven by advancements in DNA technology, the Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office, under Sheriff Tim Ryals, reassigned the case to Investigators Fowlkes and Hill within the Major Crimes Division.
The evidence, previously collected, was resubmitted to the Arkansas State Crime Lab for comprehensive analysis, including DNA, toxicology, and trace evidence. This step was crucial, as earlier DNA results had identified persons of interest, but lacked the precision for conclusive identification.
A significant breakthrough came through the use of Parabon NanoLabs, specializing in DNA phenotyping. This process, known as Snapshot, predicted the suspect's physical appearance and ancestry from unidentified DNA evidence, including eye color, hair color, skin color, freckling, and face shape.
Composites were created for the suspect at age 25 with a BMI of 22, and an age-progressed version at age 55, aiding public recognition efforts.
The investigation culminated in October 2018, when authorities announced Edward Keith Renegar as the primary suspect. Born May 3, 1958, Renegar was 32 at the time of the crime and stood at 6 feet 4 inches tall.
His DNA, analyzed through family tree data, showed a 99.9% match to the crime scene sample, further confirmed by a 99% match with his daughter's DNA, as reported in a press conference by Sheriff Ryals.
Renegar, who lived near the dump site and frequented Crossroads Video, had no known personal connection to Felkins. His criminal history added a critical layer to the case: in July 1994, he was convicted of kidnapping a "small-frame young lady" at knife-point in Cleburne County, serving a 10-month sentence and released in May 1995.
This crime, involving binding the victim with rope who eventually escaped, mirrored the violence in Felkins' case. Renegar's vehicle, a B2200 red Mazda pickup with a white camper shell, and other vehicles, were noted, potentially linking him to the crime scene.
Renegar died of natural causes on September 5, 2002, in Salt Lake City, preventing any legal proceedings.
Despite his death, the identification provided closure, with authorities continuing to seek information from anyone who knew him, especially those he worked with at Virco in Conway from the late 1980s to mid-1990s, or attended welding school at Spartan College of Aeronautics, Aviation & Technology in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1995.
