Decades-old cold case gets new life through genetic genealogy test

PHOENIX – The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office is turning to cutting-edge genetic genealogy in a renewed effort to solve a cold case from more than 36 years ago, when a woman’s remains were discovered in the Arizona desert.

The partially decomposed body of an unidentified white woman was found on Nov. 24, 1989, about 1.5 miles south of Milepost 66.5 off Interstate 40, near the Hualapai Mountains, according to a press release from the sheriff’s office.

Responding deputies found the woman unclothed, with red polish on her fingernails and toenails.

A return search of the scene on Dec. 2, 1989, turned up a handmade white blouse with a blue and purple floral pattern partially buried beneath a nearby tree.

An autopsy determined the woman was between 25 and 30 years old, approximately 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighed about 115 pounds. Initial appeals to the public through local newspapers in 1989 brought no leads.

The case was reopened in 2021 when it was assigned to the sheriff’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU).

Mohave County turns to new DNA tech to help with cold case

Investigators learned that a DNA profile of the victim had been entered into the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System, known as CODIS, in 2016, but no match had been found.

SIU investigators then partnered with Gene by Gene, a Texas-based forensic laboratory, which developed a DNA profile that was uploaded to GEDmatch and FamilyTreeDNA, public genealogy databases that work with law enforcement.

Results did not point to any family members, said investigators.

Despite five years of investigative work, the woman’s identity remains unknown.

In early 2026, the sheriff’s office enlisted help from Ramapo College of New Jersey, a public institution that houses the Investigative Genetic Genealogy Center, the first center of its kind in the country.

As part of the renewed effort, the college partnered with a forensic artist to create a rendering of what the woman may have looked like.

The image was developed using photos of her skeletal remains, the floral blouse recovered at the scene and earrings she was wearing when she was found.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact the Special Investigations Unit at 928-753-0753, extension 4044.

Related

Main roadway between Maricopa and metro Phoenix closed after fatal incidentArizona voters to choose Republican and Democratic nominees for top education positionRetired Gilbert fire captain honored after dying from job-related cancerStorms make way into Valley with strong winds, scattered showers causing power outages4-year-old boy dies a month after being pulled from Phoenix apartment poolTucson Police identify, charge mass shooting suspect who left 9 injured