After 45 Years, Mystery of Woman’s Death in Nevada Solved Through DNA Match

In a remote area of northern Nevada, a garment bag containing a woman’s heavily decayed remains was discovered in 1978. The case soon went cold and the victim remained nameless for 45 years.

On Wednesday, police announced that the victim has been identified through a DNA match. She was Florence Charleston, a Cleveland, Ohio, woman in her late 60s who had moved to Portland, Oregon, shortly before her death.

The mystery of how Charleston wound up dead and buried in a shallow grave 535 miles away from her new home is still unsolved. Police said in a news release that the investigation into her death is ongoing.

The identification of the victim was made possible through the DNA Doe Project, a nonprofit organization that uses genetic genealogy to identify the remains of unidentified people. The organization worked with the Nevada State Medical Examiner’s Office and the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office to identify the victim.

The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with information about the case to contact them. They are hoping that with the victim’s identity now known, someone may come forward with information that could help solve the mystery of her death.