Brianna Denison

Brianna Zunino Denison (March 29, 1988 – January 20, 2008) was a college student who was abducted on January 20, 2008, from a friend's house in Reno, Nevada.

He had previously been arrested in 2001 for threatening his former girlfriend's neighbor with a knife.

Brianna Denison attended Reno High School in Reno, Nevada, graduating in June 2006.

Denison was at home during winter break from Santa Barbara City College, where she was studying psychology.

She and her friends had attended events tied to a Summer Winter Action Tours LLC (a travel agency that caters to students), Martin Luther King Jr. weekend in Reno; Denison had reportedly attended this event in the past.

Investigators later learned that the male DNA found on the couch where Denison was sleeping the night when she disappeared was linked with at least two previous sexually motivated attacks in the same area, one on November 13 and the second on December 16, 2007.

The person in question was also linked to at least two attempted sexual assaults in November and December 2007, and a woman claimed to have been raped in a parking garage in October.

Previous victims also gave enough detailed information for police to draw up a sketch of the suspect.

An item of underwear was found near Denison's body along with the DNA of the perpetrator and the DNA of an unknown female.

Police said that the clothing item did not belong to Denison and that it might have been left near her body to taunt the investigators.

Police asked that anyone who recognized the clothing item as theirs come forward as they might know the identity of the perpetrator.

Her body was discovered on February 15, 2008, in a field near a Reno business park after being raped and murdered.

A man named James Biela was convicted of the murder.

She was last seen alive on January 20, 2008, at about 4am Pacific Time at her friend's house near the University of Nevada campus.

This residence is on Mackay Court in Reno, where she was staying after attending a party at the Sands Regency on North Arlington Avenue.

Her friend woke up at around 9:00 am and could not find Denison.

A small bloodstain was found on the pillow Denison slept on that night, which led her friend to alert Denison's parents and local authorities.

Denison had left the house without her shoes, cell phone, or purse.

Authorities believed she was wearing only sweats and a white tank top.

She was later found to have been dressed in only bright orange-colored socks.

In the following days, the Reno Police Department conducted a forensic investigation of the MacKay Court residence where Denison was staying when she was abducted and found touch DNA belonging to an unidentified male on the doorknob.

They also discovered that blood on the pillow was Denison's. Investigators began focusing on a kidnapping scenario.

On January 21, 2008, detectives began sweeping the University of Nevada, Reno area in search of Denison.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) also joined in the search efforts.

On January 29, 2008, a Reno woman claimed she knew another victim who said she was raped at gunpoint in a garage on the University of Nevada, Reno campus in October 2007 but had not reported the crime.

Police began interviewing nearly 100 registered sex offenders who live within a mile of the MacKay Court home.

Around 1,700 volunteers helped with the search of a 100 mi2 area during the time Denison was missing, including Nevada's then-First Lady Dawn Gibbons (wife of then-Governor Jim Gibbons).

On February 15, 2008, Albert Jimenez of Reno was returning from his lunch break at a Subway restaurant.

As he was walking by the road, he noticed bright orange-colored fabric standing out among a pile of discarded tree limbs lying in a ditch.

When he approached closer, he discovered the neon orange socks were attached to feet.

What at first he thought was a mannequin turned out to be a deceased woman.

Jimenez had heard about Brianna Denison's kidnapping but didn't think the victim resembled photographs he'd seen on billboards.

Jimenez didn't have a cell phone, so he quickly returned to his place of employment, EE Technologies, to call the Reno police.

When police arrived to the South Reno lot, Jimenez was told that the victim was Denison.

On February 16, 2008, an autopsy report confirmed that the body found in a field near a Reno business park was Brianna Denison.

On January 29, 2008, Reno police released a description of the unknown perpetrator.

On Tuesday, November 25, 2008, James Michael Biela, 27, of Sparks, Nevada, was arrested and booked at the Washoe County Jail on charges of murder, first-degree kidnapping, and sexual assault.

The arrest occurred while he was dropping his son off at the Stepping Stones Children's Center in Reno.

A DNA sample was collected from Biela.

In a press conference held by the Reno Police Department on Wednesday, November 26, 2008, it was confirmed that the DNA collected from Biela matched the DNA found at the crime scene, positively linking him to the murder of Brianna Denison and a previous sexual assault.