31-03-2025
Remains found in North Knoxville identified as missing woman last seen in 2022
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Remains discovered in North Knoxville near Fourth and Gill have been identified as those of a woman who went missing in June 2022.
Erin C. Callahan's remains were found on August 16, 2022. The Knoxville Police Department and the Knox County Regional Forensic Center worked together to recover and examine her remains, which would not be identified for nearly three years. An anthropologist with the Knox County Regional Forensic Center determined the remains belonged to a woman estimated to be 4 feet, 10 inches tall to 5 feet, 5 inches, and between 30 and 50 years of age.
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In March 2023, the Forensic Center contacted Othram, a Texas company specializing in DNA and forensic genealogy, to identify the remains through Forensic Genetic Genealogy. A year later, an autopsy technician at RFC found a profile for a person matching the details of the remains in the NamUs database. This database is the only national repository for missing, unidentified and unclaimed persons' cases.
Records were obtained for the missing person, and a comparative skeletal analysis was performed. The remains were determined to be Callahan's. According to NamUs, she was 47 when she went missing in June 2022.
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'The Knox County Regional Forensic Center is grateful for its hardworking team that doesn't quit working for the unidentified,' said Chris Thomas, the Center's Chief Administrative Officer. 'We want the families to have closure.'
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