What happened to Danni Houchins? Details explored ahead of 48 Hours on CBS

The 1996 murder of Danni Houchins will be replayed in the upcoming episode of 48 Hours on CBS.

On September 21, 1996, Danni Houchins, 15 years old, was ra*ed and murdered. The case remained unsolved for almost 30 years and grew cold. However, in 2021, with the help of advanced forensic genetic genealogy, investigators found a DNA match leading to a 55-year-old man, Paul Hutchinson, who eventually turned out to be the killer.

The upcoming episode of 48 Hours that will focus on this case is titled It’s About Danni. It will air on CBS on February 8, 2025, at 10 pm ET.

The logline for the same reads:

“When 15-year-old Danni Houchins is found dead in a swamp, her family says they were led to believe she drowned. 24 years later, Danni's sister learns the terrible truth. "

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Danni Houchins was rap*d and then murdered

As per CBS News, on September 21, Danni Houchins had argued with her family after which she left her house in Belgrade, Montana, at 11 am. That evening, when Danni did not return, her mother went to look for her. She found her truck which was unlocked and empty near a famous fishing access ground on the Gallatin River.

In a panicked state, Danni's mother called the Gallatin County Sheriff's Office for help, but they were forced to hold back when it became too dark to explore the area safely.

The same night a group of family friends who knew the area well, set out to find Danni Houchins and discovered her body beneath a willow tree in a swampy area of Cameron Bridge.

The posture of her body, bruises, and other evidence proved that she had been assaulted before she breathed her last. Danielle’s body was later sent to the Montana State Crime Laboratory for an autopsy, which revealed that she was se*ual assaulted. There was also foreign DNA found in the victim.

This case however turned cold when DNA evidence collected by authorities did not match with any suspects.

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How was the case cracked?

In 2020, Danni's sister Stephanie reached out to the new sheriff of Gallatin County Dan Springer, who brought two notable experts from California to help solve the case.

The duo: Private investigator Tom Elfmont, a retired Los Angeles Police Department detective, and Sergeant Court Depweg who specializes in utilizing advanced DNA technology to generate a profile, used one of the four hairs found on Danielle’s body to generate a profile.

This profile was then forwarded to a laboratory in Virginia, where genealogists used DNA databases to identify Paul Hutchinson as a potential suspect.

According to CBS News, Paul Hutchinson was a married man with two adult children. He worked at the Montana Bureau of Land Management for 22 years, with no criminal history. On July 23, 2024, Hutchinson who lived in Dillon, Montana was interviewed by Investigator Elfmont and Sergeant Depweg.

According to CBS News Hutchinson killed himself the day following his anxious interview. He had shot himself, and his body was discovered on the side of the road. Before his death, he contacted the Beaverhead County Sheriff's Office at 4 am and requested assistance before hanging up.

After the suicide, investigators confirmed that the DNA evidence was a complete match to Paul Hutchinson, and described the murder as a crime of opportunity. Danielle and Paul Hutchinson never knew each other.

The detectives theorized that in 1996, Paul Hutchinson was a student at Montana State University when he approached Houchins at random before r*ping and choking her in shallow water.

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To learn more about this case, watch the upcoming episode of 48 Hours on CBS.