PITTSBURGH -- A man imprisoned for trying to kidnap a woman in 1995 has been linked through his DNA to a Girl Scout who was abducted and killed in Oil City in 1992, authorities have told his mother.

Linda O'Brien, of Oil City, told The Associated Press on Monday that authorities have told her a DNA sample from James O'Brien, 30, matches one taken from Shauna Howe.

Shauna was 11 years old when she was abducted while walking home from a Girl Scout Halloween party in Oil City, about 52 miles southeast of Erie, on Oct. 27, 1992. Her battered body was found 2 1/2 days later in a creek under a railroad trestle 8 miles away.

A law enforcement source, speaking on condition of anonymity, also confirmed the match. FBI and state police officials investigating the case declined comment on Monday.

James O'Brien was convicted in February 1996 on charges he followed home a woman he met in a bar, tried to force her into the trunk of his car and tried to slam her head against the cement when she resisted.

Oil City, population 11,504, still hasn't recovered from the case, said Jeanne Nairn, a parent who organized an annual memorial in which community members retrace Shauna's last steps on the anniversary of her death.