Police seek tips after 1997 Jane Doe homicide victim is identified
Police are searching for a suspect in a 1997 Washington state homicide after a set of remains were identified with advanced forensic technology.
The remains were found by a person walking through the woods in Wilkeson, Washington, south of Seattle, in October 1997, according to a news release from the forensic genetic genealogy company Othram. The remains were skeletal. Officials were able to determine that the remains were those of a 5-foot-5-inch woman between the ages of 20 and 50, but could not determine her identity.
The deceased woman was wearing a dark blue long-sleeved sweatshirt with a Pacific Lutheran University logo, a basketball logo and the word "LUTES" on it. She was also wearing Size 7 blue jeans and Size 4 1/2 Reebok tennis shoes.
Despite the description, no one ever came forward to identify the remains. The woman became known as Pierce County Jane Doe. Her details were entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System in 2009, but no connections were ever made.
The case remained cold for decades. In October 2023, the Pierce County Sheriff's Office submitted forensic evidence from the remains to Othram to see if advanced DNA testing could make an identification. Othram scientists developed a DNA extract, then used forensic genome sequencing to build a comprehensive genealogical profile, the company said. That profile was then used for genetic genealogy research. New investigative leads discovered during that research were provided to law enforcement, Othram said.
Detectives conducted a follow-up investigation and met with potential relatives of the Pierce County Jane Doe. Reference DNA samples were collected from possible relatives and compared to the DNA profile Othram had developed. The process eventually led investigators to identify the remains.
Pierce County Jane Doe has been identified as Laurie Krage, the sheriff's office said in a statement. Othram said Krage was born in December 1959 and was "last known to be alive" in January 1996. She was married to a man named Ronald Martin, who died of natural causes in 2020, according to the sheriff's office.
The case is now being investigated as a homicide, the sheriff's office said. Anyone with information has been asked to come forward. Krage often traveled through Pierce County, the sheriff's office said, and investigators are specifically interested in her and her late husband's movements between 1995 and 1997.
Pierce County is about 45 miles from Seattle.
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The medical examiner's office told the task force that it could only release that information to a family member, but because Palmer was both transgender and an Irish immigrant, it was possible they were estranged from their birth family. As a result, Lee Bingham Redgrave was unable to find a direct family member. According to Code of Massachusetts Regulations 505 CMR 2.00, an unidentified body is released to the Department of Transitional Assistance only after the medical chief has ensured that 'reasonable efforts have been undertaken to identify the body.' The chief must make a record of the person's characteristics through charting, photography, fingerprints and a dental examination. Instead, after some internet sleuthing, Lee Bingham Redgrave found the funeral home that would have likely handled Palmer's remains. He was able to learn where Palmer was buried — the Mount Benedict Cemetery in West Roxbury. 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'He made such an impact on my life, and I never actually got to meet him,' said Hewitt, who is transgender. Hewitt met Palmer online through a Facebook group that they co-moderated together, New England Transgender. It's still active today with a goal to provide support and resources for people who identify as transgender. 'He meant so much to me and to a lot of people. He was a really big part of the group, and he helped so much,' she said. 'To this day, I think about them now, and their soul is so pure. They were such a good person,' Hewitt still keeps the Facebook group active in Palmer's honor. 'I want his memory, I want every ounce of what he meant to people to be talked about because he deserves it,' she added. Solving decades-old cold cases isn't all the Trans Doe Task Force does. It has also established a database to help preserve peoples' information — especially that of transgender youth — before something might go wrong. The #IFIGOMISSING project is a self-submit database, where people are able to submit their names, pronouns, basic information and photos so, in the event that they do end up missing, their information would be used accurately. The project was inspired by the social media trend #IFIGOMISSING in 2023, in which thousands of people — especially transgender youth — were making videos on TikTok and other social media platforms using that hashtag. 'The kids started posting videos saying 'I'm not going to kill myself, I'm not suicidal, I'm not going to run away. So if I go missing, I want people to know this is my name. If I go missing, please don't use my dead name, please use this picture of me and not an old picture,'' Lee Bingham Redgrave said. Anthony and Lee are parents themselves. They have a transgender daughter who was a teenager when they first started the task force. 'We could only imagine if we were in a different state where there was this legislation starting to happen saying that parents could be criminalized, kids could be removed from their homes,' Lee Bingham Redgrave said. Because the #IFIGOMISSING database includes so many people under the age of 18, it is secured and cannot be accessed by the public. The information would only be used in the event that a person in the database went missing. On June 5, Anthony Redgrave will give a presentation at the Springfield Museums about LGBTQ+ cold cases. It comes at the start of Pride Month, which is observed in June to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall riots. 'We're here and we're approachable and anyone can ask us anything,' he said. 'If you're in law enforcement, if you have a relative who's in law enforcement, let them know we're here, and if you're a family member or a friend of a trans person, it's good to let them know that we're here. 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