40 Years Later, Roberta Walls’ Case Finally Has an Arrest — And the Breakthrough Is Leaving People Stunned

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Nearly four decades after 22-year-old Roberta Walls was found murdered in Virginia Beach, investigators say the case that haunted her family for generations has finally reached a major turning point.

Authorities announced this week that 66-year-old Charles Berry of Newington, Connecticut, has been arrested in connection with Walls’ 1986 rape and killing — almost exactly 40 years after her death.

Walls was discovered on the morning of May 15, 1986, in a field behind Old Donation Elementary School in Virginia Beach. Police said she had suffered multiple stab wounds and had been sexually assaulted during the attack.

She had last been seen the night before near the Bayside Public Library, where she worked, before heading out to meet friends — never knowing she would never make it home.

For years, the case remained unsolved.

Detectives followed leads, interviewed countless people, and compared DNA from more than 30 men — but no match ever came.

Then science changed everything.

According to Virginia Beach investigators, preserved DNA evidence from the 1986 crime scene was revisited over the years as forensic technology advanced. A major breakthrough eventually came after renewed testing and investigative DNA work helped identify a suspect linked to the evidence.

Police say a direct DNA comparison ultimately identified Berry.

He was arrested on May 18 in Connecticut in coordination with the Newington Police Department and is currently awaiting extradition to Virginia.

Virginia Beach Police called the arrest the result of decades of persistence by investigators who refused to let Roberta Walls’ case be forgotten.

“This breakthrough stands as a powerful testament to the relentless persistence of our detectives,” the department said.

Online reaction has been emotional.

Many people following the story say the arrest feels both heartbreaking and deeply powerful — not only because of the brutal nature of the crime, but because justice may finally be arriving nearly 40 years later.

One person wrote online: “Her family waited a lifetime for answers.”

Another said: “Cases like this remind you why cold-case detectives never stop.”

For Roberta Walls’ loved ones, the arrest doesn’t erase the loss.

But after decades of unanswered questions, it may finally bring something they have been waiting for since 1986:

a path toward justice.

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Sources: Daily Mail, People, Virginia Beach Police Department, ABC News