Jon Miller, 84, of Minnesota, is accused of killing a hitchhiking woman in Wisconsin in 1974

OWATONNA, Minn. – An 84-year-old southern Minnesota man has been charged with murder in a 50-year-old unsolved case once believed to be the work of a notorious serial killer and former Green Bay Packer.

On February 15, 1974 Mary K. Schlais was found dead at an intersection in Spring Brook Township, Dunn County, according to the sheriff's office there. Police said it was a murder.

Schlais was from Minneapolis and police believe she was hitchhiking to Chicago for an art exhibition.

Decades passed as investigators pursued leads, conducted interviews and examined evidence. The Dunn County Sheriff's Office said it used genetic evidence to find and arrest Jon Miller of Owatonna.

Authorities charged Miller with first-degree murder on Thursday, according to court records. He is in custody awaiting extradition to Wisconsin.

The previous suspect was a serial killer, a former Green Bay Packer

In 2009, Schlais' body was exhumed and two years later, DNA testing allowed investigators to identify a suspect: Randall Woodfielda former Green Bay Packers draft pick who later became known as the I-5 Killer.

Authorities linked Woodfield to dozens of murders along Interstate 5 from Washington to California in the 1980s. He is in prison in connection with a murder, but has never confessed to any of the murders.

Authorities noted that Woodfield was traveling from Portland to Green Bay at the time of Schlais' murder and that he matched a witness' description. Woodfield was never further linked to or charged with Schlais' murder.