Crime scene investigators
were able to obtain some good finger prints from the scene that they believe
belong to the killer. Those prints have been run through a national database, but there have been no hits.
You may remember that just hours after the shooting, a white van was found
about 30 miles away partially submerged in the Cosumnes River, with two bodies
inside. Police determined that the man and woman inside, who died of
asphyxiation, were not suspects in the deputy's murder. However, McGinness said
the van itself could be connected to the killing. "We may find that there was a third occupant in that
van at some point or a fourth," said McGinness. McGinness said investigators
believe it's simply a matter of time before the killer commits another crime in
the United States and then his or her prints will be entered into the system. "That
person will very likely find themselves back on U.S. soil at some time and very
likely find themselves somehow in the criminal justice system at which point
we'll be able to make and identification and justice will take place,"
McGinness said. Mitchell, 38, was gunned down during a traffic stop on a rural
road near Wilton on October 27, 2006. Mitchell had radioed in that the stop
involved a white van with no license plates.