AKRON, Ohio – An Akron man accused of killing a 23-year-old mother 29 years ago later attended a wedding and bonfires held by the woman’s family, and invited the woman’s daughter into his home, according to police and family members.

Daniel L. Rees, 57, who was arrested last week and charged with aggravated murder, lived across the street from the family of Rachael M. Johnson, whose burned body was found March 30, 1991 on the 700 block of Weller Avenue on Akron’s North Side.

“It’s crazy that he was hiding right in plain sight,” Katelin Puzakulics, Johnson’s daughter who was two years old at the time of the killing, told cleveland.com. “He was at our house a lot. We had bonfires. He was always around.”

Akron police detective James Pasheilich, lead investigator on the case, described Rees as a “chameleon,” living in Puzakulics’ neighborhood, “hidden” in front of Johnson’s family and police.

Katelin Puzakulics was two years old when her mother, Rachael Johnson, was killed in Akron. (Photo courtesy of Katelin Puzakulics)

Rees’ arrest 29 years after the slaying is the result of DNA evidence that was connected to “forensic genealogy” from databases of at-home ancestry tests.

Pasheilich said police worked with AdvanceDNA, a Texarkana, Texas-based company, which used Y-chromosome testing to identify members of Rees’ family and allowed investigators to narrow their suspects down to Rees.

“They [AdvanceDNA] are not telling us who that person is,” Pasheilich said. “They just help direct us to help us understand who their family might be, and we have to work to prove or disprove that information, just like any lead. Without them, we wouldn’t have known who this person was.”

Rachael Johnson, left, was 23 years old in 1991 when she was killed by Daniel Rees, right, according to Akron police.

Pasheilich said Rees was charged in 1993 with assault, but the charge was dropped. He was not in the state’s DNA database.

The detective said he was determined to solve the case, especially given the “excessive brutality” of the crime.

“There’s so much violence, and different kinds of violence in terms of stabbing, and set on fire, and dumped in the street,” Pasheilich said. “I’ve gotten calls from the old-timers who worked this case 29 years ago, and they remember it, and they can’t believe it’s been solved and are so happy. Some have been retired for 25 years, but it’s still in their minds and their hearts and their souls.”

Katelin Puzakulics was two years old when her mother, Rachael Johnson, was killed in Akron. (Photo courtesy of Katelin Puzakulics)

Puzakulics, now 31, was raised by her father and stepmother in Akron’s Goodyear Heights neighborhood. She has an older step-brother and two younger half-brothers, and their family would regularly have bonfires and barbecues, which Rees attended. Over the years, she said, Rees had invited her into his home, taken her on a motorcycle ride and attended her brother’s wedding.

Rees also worked alongside Johnson’s sister, Leila, at a printing company.

“He had a hell of a nerve to come around knowing what he did,” she said.