Skeletal remains found in plastic bag in the 1980s identified as woman who was born in 1864

Skeletal remains found in a plastic bag in California in 1985 have been identified as those of a woman who was born during the American Civil War and died more than a century ago, according to a laboratory that works with law enforcement to solve cold cases across the country. .

The partial skeletal remains were found in October 1985 in a plastic bag near Channel Islands Harbor, west of Los Angeles, Othram, a laboratory specializing in forensic genetic genealogy, said in a news release . At the time, the bones were determined to belong to a woman who was between 35 and 50 years old when she died, but no other information was available. Deputies with the Ventura County Sheriff's Office investigated the case.

The case remained cold for decades. In 2016, case information was entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System and a clay facial reconstruction was done. A photo of the reconstruction was released publicly in an attempt to generate new leads, but no match was made despite “extensive efforts” by law enforcement, Othram said.

The Ventura County Sheriff's Office-Cold Case Unit worked with the county coroner's office in May 2023 to present forensic evidence in the case to Othram. The Texas-based lab uses DNA testing and other analyses, such as forensic genetic genealogyto help identify remains like those found in this case.

Othram scientists developed a DNA extract, the company said, and performed it forensic-grade genome sequencing, which only requires a small DNA sample to create a more complete profile. Based on this DNA profile, the company's genetic genealogy team began conducting extensive research, which provided new leads.

Researchers connected with potential relatives, and eventually a DNA reference sample was taken from a potential relative. This DNA sample allowed police to identify the remains as those of Gertrude Elliott-Littlehale, who was born in 1864 and died in 1915.

Elliott-Littlehale had been buried, but her grave had been stolen, Othram said. The company did not specify when the grave was desecrated, but said the skull had been taken and the resting place “disturbed”. Plastic bags like the ones Elliott-Littlehale's remains were found in were first adapted in the 1960s and 1970s, according to the United Nations Environment Programme, before proliferating in the 1980s.

Othram did not say what the sheriff's office plans to do with the now-identified remains.

This is the 38th case in which California officials have publicly identified an individual using Othram's technology, the company said.

Similar investigations have helped officials identify decades-old remains such as those of Rodney Rumseywhich disappeared in the 1980s, and the body of Sherman Georgea California resident who died in Arizona in 1996 and whose body was not identified until last year.