Detectives have connected the DNA of a Denver County Jail inmate to the 1990 murder of a mother of three, police said today.

The body of Paula J. Joscsak, 36, was found in an alley behind an office building at 1620 High St. on Aug. 7, 1990. An autopsy found she'd been beaten and strangled.

The cold case unit of the Denver Police Department this week obtained a DNA match with the inmate, 35-year-old Corey Bailey, who is being held on unrelated drug charges.

Bailey's DNA matches forensic evidence in the case, police said today in a statement.

During their investigation 17 years ago, police found a site nearby where they think she was slain before her body was dumped behind the building.

One investigator described it as a "fairly brutal killing."

Joscsak was last seen in a bar on East Colfax Avenue with a man who was neatly dressed and wore a business-type hat. Neighbors said they had seen Joscsak arguing with a man the night before her body was found.

Her friends said she'd had a troubled past but was trying to find a job and regain custody of her three young children, who had been taken from her by social workers a few years earlier.

Detectives continue to investigate and will present the case to the Denver DA's office for consideration of formal charges.