Police held a news conference Tuesday regarding the arrest of the man accused of killing a Norwalk sixth grader in 1986.

Marc Karun was arrested in Maine last week and brought back to Connecticut, where he was arraigned in Norwalk court Monday. Karun is charged with murder with special circumstances and kidnapping for the death of 11-year-old Flynn. 

Lt. Art Weisgerber is credited with closing the Kathleen Flynn murder case. He has been working on the case since 2002. Weisgerber calls the arrest bittersweet because it doesn't bring Flynn back.

"Lt. Weisgerber has worked diligently over many years, tracking and eliminating leads, seeking new evidence and working with our state crime lab to review evidence using the newest techniques available," says Kulhawik.

Chief Thomas Kulhawik was a patrol officer at the time. Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling was a lieutenant. Rilling would go on to become chief and have weekly meetings about Flynn's homicide before Weisgerber took over the investigation in 2002.

"This crime shocked the core of the city, changed the way people lived," said Rilling. "People no longer allowed their children to walk to school."

MORE VIDEO: Police expected to hold press conference on Norwalk cold case arrest

Flynn disappeared on Sept. 23, 1986, while walking home from Ponus Ridge Middle School. Her mother reported her missing when she didn't return home after school. Police would later find Flynn strangled and raped in the woods, about 100 feet from the path she always took home.

Court documents show detectives interviewed Karun as a potential suspect shortly after the murder. The case had resembled a previous sexual assault with which Karun was charged.

He was convicted of more crimes over the years, which all followed the same pattern. The other crimes he committed, plus advancements in DNA technology, eventually led to the cold case arrest, police say.

Flynn's family has asked for privacy but sent a message of gratitude through the mayor Tuesday.

The Kathleen Flynn homicide is the fourth cold case the Norwalk Police Department has closed in the last two years. Rilling says this should give other cold case victims' families hope.