Current:Home > ScamsA woman wearing high heels and a gold ring was found dead by hunters in Indiana 41 years ago. She's now been identified.-InfoLens
A woman wearing high heels and a gold ring was found dead by hunters in Indiana 41 years ago. She's now been identified.
View Date:2024-12-23 15:07:58
The remains of a woman wearing high heels and a gold ring who was found dead in rural Indiana in 1982 have been identified as those of a Wisconsin woman who was 20 when she vanished more than four decades ago, authorities said.
The remains are those of Connie Lorraine Christensen, who was from the Madison, Wisconsin-area community of Oregon, said Lauren Ogden, chief deputy coroner of the Wayne County Coroner's Office.
Hunters discovered Christensen's then-unidentified remains in December 1982 near Jacksonburg, a rural community about 60 miles east of Indianapolis, Ogden said. She had died from a gunshot wound and her homicide case remains unsolved.
According to the DNA Doe Project, a nonprofit that works to identify cold case victims, the woman's clothing "did not indicate she was out for a walk." The group said that when she was found, the woman wore high-heeled wooden soled clogs, a blue, long-sleeved button up blouse, gray slacks, long knit socks and a blue nylon jacket. She also wore a gold ring with an opal and two diamonds, according to the DNA Doe Project.
Christensen was last seen in Nashville, Tennessee, in April 1982, when she was believed to have been three to four months pregnant, Ogden said. She had left her 1-year-old daughter with relatives while she was away and they reported her missing after she failed to return as planned to Wisconsin.
Christensen's remains were stored at the University of Indianapolis' forensic anthropology department when the coroner's office partnered with the DNA Doe Project to try to identify them.
After Indiana State Police's forensic laboratory extracted DNA from them, forensic genetic genealogy determined that they closely match the DNA of two of Christensen's relatives, Ogden said.
Coincidentally, at the same time that the identification efforts were underway, her family was working on creating an accurate family tree using ancestry and genealogy, Ogden said.
"Due to the fact that several of Connie's living relatives had uploaded their DNA to an ancestry website, the genealogists at the DNA Doe Project were able to provide our office with the name of a candidate much more quickly than we expected," she said.
Ogden said Christensen's now adult daughter was taken last Tuesday to the location where her mother's remains were found so she could leave flowers there. Authorities also gave her a gold ring set with an opal and two diamonds that was found with her mother's remains.
"Our hearts go out to Connie's family, and we were honored to bring them the answers they have sought for so long," Missy Koski, a member of the DNA Doe Project, said in a news release. "I am proud of our dedicated and skilled volunteers who were able to assist law enforcement in returning Connie Christensen's name after all this time."
- In:
- Cold Case
- DNA
- Indiana
veryGood! (766)
Related
- Younghoo Koo takes blame for Falcons loss to Saints: 'This game is fully on me'
- Jessica Campbell will be the first woman on an NHL bench as assistant coach with the Seattle Kraken
- Map shows states where fireworks are legal or illegal on July 4, 2024
- Pregnant Francesca Farago Details Her Dream Wedding to Jesse Sullivan
- Elon Musk says 'SNL' is 'so mad' Trump won as he slams Dana Carvey's impression
- Bookcases recalled nearly a year after 4-year-old killed by tip-over
- Many tattoo ink and permanent makeup products contaminated with bacteria, FDA finds
- 2 more people charged with conspiring to bribe Minnesota juror with a bag of cash plead not guilty
- Anti-abortion advocates press Trump for more restrictions as abortion pill sales spike
- Man tells jury he found body but had no role in fatal attack on Detroit synagogue leader
Ranking
- Engines on 1.4 million Honda vehicles might fail, so US regulators open an investigation
- 2024 MLB All-Star Game starters: Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani lead lineups
- England's Jude Bellingham was a hero long before his spectacular kick in Euro 2024
- Taylor Lautner's Wife Tay Lautner Shares Breast Cancer Scare
- Whoopi Goldberg Shares Very Relatable Reason She's Remained on The View
- Dress appropriately and you can get a free Krispy Kreme doughnut on July 4th: Here's how
- Vanessa Hudgens Gives Birth, Welcomes First Baby With Husband Cole Tucker
- 4 major takeaways from the Supreme Court's most consequential term in years
Recommendation
-
MLS playoff teams set: Road to MLS Cup continues with conference semifinals
-
Arizona abortion rights advocates submit double the signatures needed to put constitutional amendment on ballot
-
Travis Kelce reveals his biggest fear during his Taylor Swift Eras Tour appearance
-
30th annual Essence Festival of Culture kicks off in New Orleans
-
‘Heretic’ and Hugh Grant debut with $11 million, but ‘Venom: The Last Dance’ tops box office again
-
How Vanessa Hudgens Celebrated Husband Cole Tucker's Birthday Hours Before Baby News
-
9-Year-Old America's Got Talent Contestant's Tina Turner Cover Will Leave Your Jaw on the Floor
-
This week on Sunday Morning (July 7)