The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office is continuing their investigation into a 1971 cold case homicide.
According to the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office, on January 23, 1971, the victim was located in the desert area near a dirt road, 2.2 miles east of US Hwy 93 on Hackberry Road. The victim has never been identified and several attempts have been made since recovering the victim to uncover her identity and what happened to her.
In April 2022, investigators reached out to Othram Inc. to determine if advanced DNA testing and Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing could help give insight into the identity of the woman and the circumstances surrounding her untimely death.
The Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) has already committed $1,000 to the cause and is asking for assistance from the community to give her justice and provide closure to her family who has been looking for her. A DNA profile has been successfully composed for Jane Doe, and the money collected will assist Othram Inc. in uploading the DNA profile into national databases to identify potential family members of the victim. Othram, Inc. has established a DNASolves crowd funding website to raise the remaining $6,500 to conduct the Investigative Genetic Genealogy (IGG).
The Sheriff’s Office hopes that the community “will open its heart and help finally give her a name.”
Learn more about “Mohave County Jane Doe” by visiting the DNASolves page
The victim was located in a canvas sack that had been tied at the top with a white cotton rope. The sack was a white cotton, loosely woven sack with the words “Deer-Pak Ames Harris Neville Co.,” printed in green.
The female victim was described as approximately 40 years of age, 5’4”, weighing approximately 125-140 pounds, with curly brown hair. She was dressed in a size 14 multi-colored long sleeve blouse, a black long-sleeved black cardigan sweater, and burnt orange stretch pants with the following tab inside, “Symphony, It’s what’s happening” size 12. She was wearing a pair of black leather, ankle high boots and bobby sox, possibly white at one time. The victim was not wearing any type of jewelry.