Danbury

Danbury police look for second suspect in 1989 cold case

Police continue to investigate several crimes and they are asking people with information to come forward.

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Danbury police are looking for a second suspect in connection to the abduction of an 11-year-old in 1989.

Authorities announced that they made an arrest in the decades-old cold case Wednesday.

On Thursday, detectives said they are actively looking for a second suspect in connection to the incident.

Authorities released the original composite sketch of the second suspect from 1989.

They are continuing to investigate several similar crimes that happened in the late 1980s and they are asking anyone with information to come forward.

Danbury police said detectives investigated a series of crimes in the late 1980s that alarmed the neighborhood in the area of Lake Avenue/Merrimac Street, including the abduction and rape of female residents, and those cases went cold.

Those cases were reopened in November 2023 when one of the victims contacted the Danbury Police Department Special Victims Unit.

The investigation included more interviews of people who the original investigators identified and resources that were not available in the late 1980s, police said.

With help from the Danbury State's Attorney and the State Police Forensic Laboratory, police said they identified 53-year-old David V. Coffey, who lived in the area during the late 1980s, as a suspect, and they secured a warrant charging him with kidnapping in the first degree.

Danbury police said they took him into custody on Tuesday and charged him in connection with a 1989 abduction and rape. Coffey was held on a court-set bond of $750,000.

The police department said other arrests are pending and the investigation remains ongoing.

They are asking people who might know something about the incidents to call Det. John Basile at 203-797-4668, the Danbury Police Investigative Services Bureau at 203-797-4662 or the anonymous Tips Line at 203-790-TIPS (8477).

Anonymous web tips can also be submitted online here.

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