Lyon County Sheriffs Office identifies murder victim from 1991

YERINGTON, Nev. (KOLO) - The Lyon County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) has made a breakthrough in an unsolved murder discovered on March 12, 1992.

The victim, who was believed to have been killed in 1991, was unidentified for 29 years and known only as Sand Canyon John Doe.

In July of 2020, LCSO Major Crimes Division Detectives worked with Parabon NanoLabs Snapshot of Virginia to find genetic matches to the victim. By identifying possible close relatives, Detectives were able to identify Sand Canyon John Doe as Vincent Marion Trapp.

Detectives then determined that Trapp, originally from Sacramento, was living in the Topaz Ranch Estates area of Douglas County in late 1989 through the fall of 1990, and was a resident of Yerington in the spring of 1991.

Now that Trapp’s identity is known, investigators hope someone will come forward with information that might help to solve Trapp’s murder.

If you know anything, contact Detective Lieutenant Jerry Pattison of the Major Crimes Division of the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office at (775) 577-5206, or Investigator Matthew Wehn of the Nevada Division of Investigation at (775) 684-7412. If you wish to provide information anonymously, you can call or text Secret Witness at (775) 322-4900.