Suspect arrested in 1986 killing

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GREENOCK, Scotland, March 23 (UPI) -- A suspect was held Friday in the 1986 killing of a teenage schoolgirl found strangled in an alley in Greenock, Scotland.

Cold case detectives reopened the investigation into Elaine Doyle's death two years ago, the Daily Express reported. Strathclyde Police said a 48-year-old man was held early Friday and is expected to appear in Greenock Sheriff's Court on Monday.

Elaine, 16, who worked for a jeweler, was last seen by friends in June 1986 after an evening at the Celtic Supporters' Club disco in Greenock. Her half-naked body was found the next morning near her home, and investigators determined she had been raped and killed.

In 2003, detectives said they had a DNA profile of the suspected killer and asked Australian authorities for DNA samples from six men. But the trail went cold again and two years ago Operation Evergreen, a cold-case squad, appealed to the public about the killing.

The Doyle family was hit by another tragedy last year when Jack Doyle, 17, Elaine's nephew, was killed in Greenock. A young man was convicted in that case.

Jack Doyle, Elaine's father, died of cancer shortly after his grandson's death. In 2011, he appealed for information about his daughter, The Scotsman said.

We know nothing can bring Elaine back to us but if we could just have some of our questions answered, then I know this would make our daily lives just that bit more bearable," he said. "When Maureen and I last spoke to Elaine 25 years ago, she was in such a rush to go and meet up with friends. She was going with them to her first grown-up disco. Little did we know that we would never again see her alive."