Man accused of killing Jennifer Bastian returns to Tacoma

The man accused of killing Jennifer Bastian is back in Tacoma.

Robert Washburn, 60, was extradited from Illinois Wednesday night and booked into Pierce County, nearly two weeks after his arrest.

He is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday afternoon.

Washburn is charged with first-degree murder for the Aug. 4, 1986, death of 13-year-old Bastian.

After more than three decades working one of the most heartbreaking cold cases in the city's history, detectives were able to use DNA to link Washburn to Bastian.

It was DNA that Washburn agreed to provide when FBI agents contacted him at his Eureka, Illinois, apartment.

In 2016, detectives made a list of all suspects in the Bastian case after determining that the killer did not also kill 12-year-old Michella Welch, as police had long thought.

Test results from the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab came back in early May linking Washburn to the crime.

At the time Bastian went missing in Point Defiance Park while on a training bike ride, Washburn lived just a few blocks from Bastian's home and less than two miles from the park.

While providing a tip to police about Welch's killer in December 1986, Washburn allegeldy told detectives he jogged in Point Defiance Park as often as twice a day.

His ex-wife and brother have said they do not recall Washburn jogging or being the type to work out.

Bastian disappeared Aug. 4, 1986, and her body was found weeks later in a wooded area between Five Mile Drive and the cliffs overlooking Commencement Bay.

She'd been sexually assaulted and strangled. Her bike was nearby.

Investigators are trying to piece together Washburn's life in 1986.

Neighbors in Illinois said he appeared to be a quiet, kind man who spent all his time caring for his disabled daughter and mostly kept to himself.

This story was originally published May 24, 2018 at 7:37 AM with the headline "Man accused of killing Jennifer Bastian returns to Tacoma."