More than 50 years after the body of a woman in a cardigan sweater and burnt orange stretch pants was found in a canvas bag near a highway in the Arizona desert, Mojave County The sheriff’s office has finally tracked down the name of the oldest Jane Doe case.

Colleen Audrey Rice was born on March 17, 1913 in Portsmouth, Ohio. She married in Ohio in her 1946 and was estranged from her family. Her body was found in January 1971, near a dirt road about two miles east of U.S. Route 93 on Hackberry Road. the investigator said.

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The body showed no signs of blunt force trauma and no gunshot wounds. The coroner’s office listed the cause of death and cause of death as unknown, investigators said.

Little is known about the victim’s life or how he came to live in Arizona, officials said.

It’s both a relief and a frustration for Lori Miller, a sheriff’s investigator who took up an open case in September 2021 and spoke to synthetic sketches she taped to her computer each day.

“This was Jane Doe,” said Miller. “Now she has a name. She was always a person. Now she’s a person with a name. It kind of hits you.”

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The timeline for finding out her identity began in September 2021. Miller, her 25-year veteran with the Los Angeles Police Department, and her partner combed through files to see if evidence from the unsolved case could be resubmitted.

Last May, Jane Doe, died January 29, 1971, from a dirt-covered county lot in Mountain View Cemetery in Kingman, Arizona.

Jane Doe grave marker in Kingman, Arizona Cemetery (Mojave County Sheriff’s Office)

Investigators tried fingerprints, but got nothing. They investigated canvas bag labels with the trade name printed in green. However, the company had been acquired.

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Nothing was found in their colorful long-sleeved blouses, black long-sleeved cardigan sweaters, and burnt-orange stretch pants. They posted on Facebook and got nothing.

“Basically, all we were left with was trying to identify her through her genetic genealogy,” Miller said.

Investigators worked with Othram Inc., a genealogical and forensic laboratory in Texas, to determine whether DNA testing and forensic-grade genome sequencing would help. But the sheriff’s office didn’t have the $7,500 he needed to start the proceedings.

So they committed $1,000 and crowdsourced the rest.

Use DNA solvesthey raised the remaining $6,500 and had her DNA tested within five days.

“There are some very nice people out there,” said Miller.

Testing will begin in the second half of 2022, and on Monday, “the victim has found his voice,” the sheriff’s office said.

DNA testing of relatives confirmed their identities.

It was the result of “innumerable investigations into her family tree and contact with distant family relatives”.

Unable to find any clues about the suspect, he is chasing the whereabouts of his family.

“We’re working backwards,” says Miller.

If you have information about Colleen Audrey Rice or the incident, please contact the Mojave County Sheriff’s Office SIU at extension 928-753-0753. Call 4408 or toll-free 1-800-522-4312 and see DR# 71-0383.

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