A Madison County District Court judge has denied a request for DNA testing in the case of a man convicted in the disappearance of a Norfolk girl in 1987.

David Phelps is serving a life sentence for the kidnapping of Jill Cutshall. Cutshall was never found, though a hunter near Stanton found her clothes. She later was legally declared dead.

Phelps said no DNA testing had ever been done on evidence found in the wooded area where Jill's clothes were found. He said scientific proof that his DNA was not on those items would contradict the state's theory that he kidnapped her.

Judge Patrick Rogers wrote in his ruling that DNA testing would not produce relevant evidence to Phelps' claim.

In 1991 a jury found Phelps guilty of kidnapping Cutshall, who was last seen on August 13th, 1997, sitting on her baby-sitter's front porch.