The remains of a teenaged Jane Doe discovered nearly two years ago in Graham County have been identified with the help of DNA testing, and the girl’s mother will stand trial on a charge of first degree premeditated murder, according to the public records.
Cadence Langley was 14 years old when shot in the back of the head and placed in a bag until found by a hunter along a little-used road near Safford in October 2020. Her mother, Amber Langley, was charged Sept. 1 for the “execution style” murder and is being held in the Graham County jail in lieu of $2 million bail.
Determining Jane Doe’s identity did not come easy, in part because of decomposition caused by the bagged body being partially submerged in a livestock water box. The autopsy conducted by the Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office estimated the girl was 13 to 15 years old.
Publicity about the hunter’s grisly discovery did not provide any solid leads, so the following year investigators released images of evidence found with the body as well as images provided by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children of what the teen may have looked like when alive.
The girl’s cause of death was withheld from the public at the time.
Physical evidence -specifically a strand of hair, a bone segment, and a tooth- were submitted to the FBI and a private California laboratory to create Jane Doe’s DNA profile. That profile was then compared to a genealogy database which reported a familial connection to Amber Langley.
Investigators also learned Amber Langley had an autistic young teenaged daughter named Cadence who some family members had been told was living out of state with a relative. But as recently as this June, Amber Langley told an FBI agent she and the girl were living in Oregon with family.
The truth, however, was that the mother was still in Graham County with her other children while there had been no confirmed sightings of Cadence for nearly two years, according to recent court testimony.
Records show Amber Langley was booked into the Graham County jail on Aug. 24 after being arrested on suspicion of theft and fraudulent schemes. The felony charges stem from the mother’s acceptance of about $4,700 in welfare payments to care for Cadence even though the girl was not in her care.
Amber Langley was ordered held in lieu of $200,000 bail during a hearing in that case, for which she is slated to be arraigned this week. The murder charge was filed Sept. 1 and includes bail of $2 million, according to court records.
A public defender has been appointed to represent Amber Langley in both cases.
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