Iowa police arrest man in unsolved child slaying

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — Mason City police have charged a man with first-degree murder in the unsolved slaying of child nearly 20 years ago.

Authorities announced Monday that a DNA analysis led to the arrest of 37-year-old Michael Jason Cisneros in connection with the death of 20-month-old John Joseph Snyder Jr.

The boy was reported missing from his father’s Mason City apartment in July 1994. He was found a day later snagged on a tree. Police say he died of drowning and a skull injury.

The Mason City Globe Gazette reports Cisneros’ DNA was collected after he was transported to a correctional facility in December. Police say the sample matched evidence collected from the boy’s pajama bottoms.

Cisneros is being held in the Cerro Gordo County Jail. Records do not list an attorney.