Skull found in 2013 identified as remains of Bay Area woman over a decade later

"In 2013, a Redding cleanup crew discovered a human skull in a patch of blackberry bushes along an irrigation canal. Despite a rigorous investigation, the remains were left unidentified for over a decade - until last month, when a laboratory identified the skull as that of a Bay Area woman whose family hadn't heard from her in years. The skull was found by workers in March 2013 near the Anderson-Cottonwood Irrigation District canal, according to a statement posted by the Shasta County Sheriff's Office on social media Friday."

"Shortly after the remains were found, the Shasta County Coroner's Office determined they belonged to a woman between 4'10" and 5'4" tall who was anywhere between the ages of 35 and 70, according to a post published by Othram on Friday. Investigators "estimated the remains had been hidden by the thick brush for several years," Othram wrote, in an area where the remains of two other people had been found in recent years."

Workers discovered a human skull in March 2013 in blackberry bushes along the Anderson-Cottonwood Irrigation District canal near Redding. The Shasta County Coroner's Office estimated the remains belonged to a woman between 4'10" and 5'4" tall and between 35 and 70 years old, and investigators estimated the remains had been hidden for several years. A DNA sample was entered into state and national missing-person indexes with no matches. In 2023 the coroner's office partnered with forensic genealogy lab Othram, which used genome sequencing and genealogy searching. On Sept. 15 Othram identified the remains as Velma Louise Silva Lee of Napa. A half-sister was contacted in July 2025.

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