Jane Doe Finally Identified, 48 Years After Body Dumped In Grundy Co.
MORRIS — Authorities with the Grundy County Coroner's Office of Coroner John Callahan announced at Thursday's press conference that after more than 47 years, the remains of a young black woman found near Seneca have been identified as JoAnn “Vicky” Smith of Ohio by a dedicated team of volunteer investigative genetic genealogists with the DNA Doe Project.Two of Vicky Smith's out of state family members traveled to Morris to speak with reporters at Thursday's press conference. For decades, the Ohio-based family lived without ever knowing what had happened to their loved one.Vicky Smith was born Feb. 7, 1956. She died Oct. 2, 1976 at the age of 20. "And we will believe that whoever perpetrated this crime against her, if they're alive, they will be brought to justice,"remarked Vickie Smith's brother at Thursday's press conference in Morris. John Ferak/PatchOne of Vicky's brothers stepped to the podium explaining that before his mother died, she had told him how they've got these computers and these cell phones, "why don't you help, why don't you try to find Vickie for me."And I must say that that's one of the regrets I have as I stand up here today," remarked the Grundy County homicide victim's brother. "That I denied my mother that request only because my reasoning was, we always felt that she was alive and I told my mother. I said, well, momma, it would be so much easier for Vicky to find us than for us to try and find her, it's like trying to find a needle in a haystack. I said, but we're easy to find, even though we live in South Carolina now. We still own that home there. It would be so easy to track us down."So, that's the way that was left at that time. But we come from a family of faith and we will always believe. "And we will believe that whoever perpetrated this crime against her, if they're alive, they will be brought to justice. That is our hope and our prayer." One of the reporters asked Vicky's brother what their mother, who has since passed away, would be thinking now."Well, she's going to be overjoyed, and I tell you, this has been left as my responsibility. And my mother and my brother, who passed last June, know that I would be the one to bring this back together. There's an interment service planned for Tuesday, July 2nd, at my parents' grave site."When asked about the significance of getting his slain sister identified, Vicky's brother remarked, "That's what she deserved. That's what anyone deserves. Anyone. And l live my life today going by the teachings of my mother. She was a great woman, my dad, a great man, they raised us right. And a lot of things I do with the thought of would my mother be happy and is this what she would do and this is the way she would want it done and it's going to be done."According to their press release: investigators in 1976 quickly ran out of leads to the identity of the Jane Doe found in a ditch alongside U.S. 6. They knew she had been shot in the head. After two months of searching, she was buried in an unmarked grave, but her case was far from closed.In late 2017, the Grundy County Coroner’s Office reopened the cold case, in the hopes of using modern day DNA and forensics.Grundy County Coroner John Callahan and deputy coroner Brandon Johnson spoke at Thursday's press conference, along with the victim's family.On December 18, 2018, Jane Doe was subsequently exhumed from her unmarked resting place of 42 years. With the assistance of NamUs, remains were sent to the University of North Texas Center For Human Identification in Fort Worth, Texas. DNA was then developed and entered into CODIS, a national DNA database, which yielded negative results.Deputy Chief Brandon Johnson of the Grundy County Coroner’s Office connected with the DNA Doe Project to try a newly developed technique to find her identity. DNA Doe Project deploys teams of expert volunteer investigative genetic genealogists who analyze the relative matches to the unknown person’s DNA to build a family tree. It would take four and a half years of dedicated work to narrow the search to the right branch of Vicky Smith’s tree and find her name.Her DNA profile matched to a number of her distant biological relatives, but most people in her birth family didn’t know she existed. Her name was finally found after the team located a branch of her tree with three sisters, one of whom was her birth mother.With the assistance of Cincinnati Health Department Vital Records, Johnson located her original birth certificate. After extensive searches, Johnson requested assistance from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and subsequently adoption records were located by the Hamilton County Probate Court based on the lead provided by the DNA Doe Project team.“A lot of people worked to keep this young woman’s story alive for 47 years so that she could get her name back and give her family some answers about her disappearance,” said Pam Lauritzen, Executive Director of Media and Communications with the DNA Doe Project. “It is an honor for all of us to say her name – Vickie Smith – and to know she’s on her way home.”"And we will believe that whoever perpetrated this crime against her, if they're alive, they will be brought to justice,"remarked Vicky Smith's brother at Thursday's press conference in Morris. John Ferak/PatchThe article Jane Doe Finally Identified, 48 Years After Body Dumped In Grundy Co. appeared first on Channahon-Minooka, IL Patch.
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