After nearly 45 years, authorities say an 11-year-old girls killer is finally behind bars.

Police on Tuesday arrested a Colorado man for the 1973 kidnapping and murder of Linda OKeefe, who was last seen walking home from summer school in Newport Beach, California.

James Alan Neal, 72, was taken into custody after he was linked to the crime with DNA evidence that was collected from the victim. The positive match followed his DNA being recently submitted to a genealogical tracking website, the Orange County District Attorneys Office said Wednesday.