Skeletal remains found in plastic bag in 1980s and identified as those of woman born in 1864

Skeletal remains discovered in a plastic bag in California in 1985 have been identified as those of a woman born during the American Civil War and died more than a century ago, according to a laboratory that works with US forces. order to resolve cold cases across the country. .

The partial skeletal remains were found in October 1985, in a plastic bag near the Channel Island Harbor, just west of Los Angeles, Othram, a laboratory specializing in forensic genetic genealogy, said in a statement Press. At the time, it was determined that the bones belonged to a woman who was 35 to 50 years old at the time of her death, but no further information was available. Officers with the Ventura County Sheriff's Office investigated the case.

The case remained unfinished for decades. In 2016, case information was entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System and a facial reconstruction was made in clay. A photo of the reconstruction was made public in an attempt to generate new leads, but no matches were made despite “tremendous efforts” by law enforcement, Othram said.

The Ventura County Sheriff's Office Cold Case Unit worked with the county medical examiner's office in May 2023 to submit forensic evidence from the case to Othram. The Texas-based lab uses DNA evidence and other analysis, such as forensic genetic genealogyto help identify remains like those found in this case.

Othram scientists developed a DNA extract, the company said, and conducted forensic-grade genome sequencing, which requires just a small sample of DNA to create a more complete profile. From this DNA profile, the company's genetic genealogy team began conducting extensive research, which provided new leads.

Investigators made contact with potential relatives and, finally, a DNA reference sample was taken from a possible family member. This DNA sample allowed police to identify the remains as those of Gertrude Elliott-Littlehale, born in 1864 and died in 1915.

Elliott-Littlehale had been buried, but her grave had been robbed, Othram said. The company did not say when the grave was desecrated, but said his skull was removed and the resting place was “disturbed.” Plastic bags like those in which Elliott-Littlehale's remains were found were first adapted in the 1960s and 1970s, according to the United Nations Environment Program, before proliferating in the 1980s .

Othram did not say what the sheriff's office plans to do with the now-identified remains.

This is the 38th case in which California authorities have publicly identified an individual using Othram's technology, the company said.

Similar research has helped officials identify decades-old remains, such as those of Rodney Rumseydisappeared in the 1980s, and the body of Sherman Georgea California resident who died in Arizona in 1996 and whose body was unidentified until last year.