DNA testing solves decades-long mystery of missing Bay Area woman

"In March 2013, brush cutting workers found the skull among blackberry bushes while working in Redding, near the the Anderson-Cottonwood Irrigation District Canal and the Locust Street Bridge, according to the Shasta County Sheriff's Office. Redding police, sheriff's deputies and forensic anthropologists from California State University Chico's human identification lab responded and searched the surrounding area for days, locating most of the person's remains, several items of clothing and some personal items."

"In 2023, the coroner's office partnered with Othram, which specializes in genealogical matching, to take a fresh look at the case. The lab created a comprehensive DNA profile for the woman, compared it to possible family lineage and found that a possible match was Velma Louise Silvia Lee, a Napa woman born in 1936 who had never been reported missing, the sheriff's office said."

"Authorities tracked down relatives and eventually Redding police found Lee's son. He told officers the family had years before hired a private investigator who had tracked Lee's whereabouts until about 2004. After they could not find further proof of life, she was declared legally dead. The son also provided a DNA sample, which was sent to Othram for a comparison."

A skull found in March 2013 among blackberry bushes near the Anderson-Cottonwood Irrigation District Canal and the Locust Street Bridge prompted an extensive search that recovered most of the skeletal remains, clothing and personal items. The county coroner estimated the remains belonged to a white woman roughly 4-foot, 10-inches to 5-foot, 4-inches tall and 35 to 70 years old. Initial DNA submission to the California Department of Justice yielded no match for over a decade. In 2023 the coroner's office partnered with Othram for genealogical DNA analysis, which produced a comprehensive profile and identified the remains as Velma Louise Silvia Lee. Relatives confirmed prior private-investigator efforts and the son provided a DNA sample for final comparison, and Othram officially identified the remains on Sept. 15.

Read at The Mercury News