A 70-year-old Nevada man has been charged over the 1982 murder of a five-year-old girl who disappeared while walking to her reception class in California.

Robert John Lanoue, of Reno, Nevada, was charged last week in the killing of Anne Pham.

Anne vanished while walking to Highland Elementary School in Seaside, California, on January 21 1982.

Her body was found two days later in the former Fort Ord.

She had been kidnapped, sexually assaulted and strangled, California authorities said.

According to court records, Lanoue has waived extradition to Monterey County in California.

As of Monday, he was still in the Washoe County jail.

Lanoue, who is a registered sex offender in Nevada, was at the time of the girl’s death and lived near her home in Seaside, said Monterey County district attorney Jeannine Pacioni.

The case was reopened in 2020 when investigators from the Monterey County district attorney’s office cold case task force worked with the Seaside police service to submit evidence from the case for DNA testing after receiving a grant to reexamine cold cases.

Lanoue was charged with one count of first-degree murder, with special circumstance allegations that he murdered Anne while committing kidnapping and a lewd act on a child under the age of 14, said Ms Pacioni.

It was not immediately known if Lanoue has an lawyer who can speak on his behalf.

On July 6, California investigators obtained a warrant for Lanoue’s arrest, Ms Pacioni said.

Lanoue was already in the Washoe County jail for a parole violation, records showed.