A pregnant woman killed in 1980 was positively identified last month using DNA technology, the Ventura County sheriff said in a press release.

Maricela Rocha Parga was 22 years old when she was found stabbed to death outside Westlake High School on July 18, 1980. Further examination by the Ventura County Medical Examiner’s Office at the time determined she was pregnant when she was killed.

Parga’s case went cold after investigators exhausted all leads, the sheriff’s release said, and she remained unidentified for decades, known only as “Jane Doe Ventura County.”

The case was reopened in 2011, when cold case detectives re-examined available evidence for DNA analysis. They were able to generate a DNA profile, which was entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) in January 2013, leading to the identification of a suspect.

Wilson Chouest matched the DNA entered into CODIS, the sheriff’s release said. At the time, he was incarcerated in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, serving a life sentence on a previous conviction for robbery, kidnapping and rape that took place in September 1980 — the month after Parga’s killing.

Chouest was arrested in connection with Parga’s murder in 2015, according to the release. He was found guilty and handed another life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Despite Chouest’s conviction, Parga remained unidentified.

More than 10 years after Chouest’s arrest and conviction, in January, Parga was positively identified thanks to advances in DNA technology and through working with the DNA Doe Project, the sheriff’s release said. The project’s “comprehensive genealogy research allowed detectives with the Cold Case Unit to trace DNA connections,” which led to Parga’s identification, the release said.

The sheriff’s release added: “These types of cases are not just about solving a case, for those involved it is about giving a name back to the victim who deserves to be remembered and bringing closure to the families that have been searching for answers.”