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Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Why are police asking for help with finding a woman who vanished nearly 50 years ago?
Related video: This Utah woman was last seen in 1978 — Police are still looking for answers MURRAY, Utah () — On Sept. 16, 1978, 29-year-old Linda Peterson — who was five-and-a-half months pregnant at the time — told her husband she was leaving on a trip to Kentucky with some friends. She hasn't been seen since. On May 20, 2025 — nearly 50 years after Peterson disappeared — the Murray Police Department to ask for help from the public. Here's why. According to detectives with Murray PD, new developments with DNA samples and adoption records have renewed the investigation into Peterson's disappearance. PREVIOUSLY — This Utah woman was last seen in 1978. Nearly 50 years later, police are still searching for answers 'Early on in our investigation in 1978, we treated it like any other missing persons report and gathered the details of it,' Detective Gruendell with the Murray Police Department said. 'Over the years in reassigning it, we ran into new technology like DNA.' Peterson was adopted in Glendale, California, in 1949. Detective Gruendell said it took some time to get unredacted adoption records from California — the department didn't get those records until 2012, and learned that only Peterson's birth mother (not her father) was identified in the records. Around the time Murray PD obtained the adoption records, detectives were later able to identify a first cousin of Peterson's and obtain a DNA sample to put into a database. However, the case stalled because detectives needed a DNA match to a sibling or birth parent. In 2025, the case reopened, and Gruendell said detectives were able to identify 'natural siblings' of Peterson. Her siblings agreed to provide DNA samples, and Murray PD is working to put a DNA profile together. 'This is a huge thing for this case, and the reason is… any unidentified body that we have had between 1978 and now, we've never been able to test to find out if it is our missing persons case,' Gruendell said. Gruendell continued: 'Now we have the technology and the resources to push this case forward to actually reach out to other departments and go on NamUs and try to identify if she has passed away or maybe she just packed up and moved.' Murray detectives said Peterson's family is interested in bringing her home. Detectives also said that any details, no matter how small, may help find Peterson. 'We are running out of time to find anyone who knew her that we could possibly interview,' Gruendell said. According to the , Linda was first reported missing by her husband, William Peterson, on Sept. 30, 1978. He told police that his wife had left home with friends in a station wagon. William said Linda was heading to Kentucky to meet with some other friends, but he 'became worried when he didn't hear from Linda,' according to the DPS. Detectives with Murray PD said that Linda had lived in Kentucky for four months in 1974, but officials have not been able to identify the friends that she left with for the trip in 1978. 'We have not [been] able to have enough evidence to corroborate that she actually went to Kentucky for that trip,' Detective Gutierrez with Murray PD told Linda is described as being 5'8″ tall, weighing 130 pounds, with dark brown hair and hazel eyes. According to the (NamUs), she was last seen wearing an orange maternity top and blue jeans. Linda worked as a nurse at the University of Utah in 1977 and 1978. She would now be 76 years old. Her husband worked as a pharmacist, and told police his wife was with a woman he did not recognize, named Susan or Suzanne, in the station wagon. Anyone with information or memories has been asked to call 801-264-2673 or email Detective Gruendell at kgruendell@ Trump pardons former GOP Rep. Michael Grimm amid clemency spree Why are police asking for help with finding a woman who vanished nearly 50 years ago? Orem man charged for threatening to kill a family who visited neighboring for-sale house Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy provides updates on Newark airport Street performers ready to thrill audiences at SLC's Busker Fest Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Arizona Legislature unanimously approves Turquoise Alert System for missing Indigenous people
Community members wait in line at the water tank in Peridot, Arizona, so that they can place a red hand print of the mural honoring Emily Pike and everyone impacted by the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples crisis. Photo by Shondiin Silversmith | Arizona Mirror The creation of the Turquoise Alert System cleared its final legislative hurdle on Wednesday when it passed the state House of Representatives unanimously The new system, which would function similarly to the existing Amber Alert and Silver Alert notification systems, would coordinate alerts for missing Indigenous or endangered persons through the federally authorized Emergency Alert System. The final passage comes less than a week after the state Senate amended the legislation, House Bill 2281, to include minors who go missing. The change allows the alert system to be activated in cases like Emily Pike's, an Indigenous teen whose disappearance and murder earlier this year was cited by lawmakers as the impetus for the measure. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Rep. Teresa Martinez, R-Casa Grande, said she introduced the bill before Pike's story became public, and that the Turquoise Alert could have prevented her murder. 'It breaks my heart that we, the State of Arizona, didn't even go looking for this little girl,' she said. 'We cannot let children go missing without somebody being alerted.' Democratic Rep. Brian Garcia, a member of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, said the alert will save lives. 'One day, what happened to Emily won't happen to another child,' he said. More than 10,600 Indigenous people were reported missing in the U.S. in 2023, roughly 3,300 of whom were 18 or older, according to the FBI. The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System reported that more than 23,700 missing persons cases were in the database at the end of 2023, and 255 of those were for Indigenous people. In 2021, Arizona was ranked as the state with the third-largest number of unresolved missing Indigenous people cases in the country, according to NamUs. There are currently 91 missing Indigenous people cases in the NamUs database for Arizona. A study from the Urban Indian Health Institute found that Arizona also has the third-largest number of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in the country. That study reported 506 known cases in 71 urban areas across the country, 54 of which were in Arizona, including 31 in Tucson. There is still no single database that provides accurate numbers or data related to missing and murdered Indigenous peoples across the country. With no centralized database among the thousands of federal, state and tribal entities, the information available is limited. The Turquoise Alert system has been a priority for Indigenous advocates for years, and was requested in 2019, when Arizona's first Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women study committee examined the crisis. 'Indigenous people go missing at a higher rate than any other ethnicity,' Elayne Gregg, whose 7-year-old daughter was abducted and killed in 2009, told the Arizona Mirror earlier this year. 'Because that rate is so high, something like this needs to happen.' The bill has received broad bipartisan support as it moved through the legislative process, making it likely that Gov. Katie Hobbs will sign it into law. Hobbs has already directed the Arizona Department of Public Safety to develop a plan for implementing a new alert for Indigenous people by summer. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Yahoo
NamUs releases more information on body found in Killingly
KILLINGLY, Conn. (WTNH) — New updates about the body found in Killingly in April have been released. According to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System , the person was roughly 5'8″ with an estimated age somewhere between 25 and 45 years old, and that they could've been Caucasian or African American. Police dispel increasing rumors of serial killer as investigation into body found in New Haven continues NamUs estimated that the person likely died some time in 2024 or 2025. No identity has been revealed. The investigation is still ongoing at this time. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-04-2025
- Yahoo
Remains of Ohio man missing for 45 years identified
The remains of a 20-year-old Ohio man who went missing 45 years ago have been identified. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] On April 23, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and Dr. Thomas Gilson, medical examiner for Cuyahoga County, announced that the remains of Cleveland resident Danny Lee Mitchell had been identified. TRENDING STORIES: Fire crews battle massive semi fire on I-75 Local sergeant found under the influence of alcohol while on duty Applebee's vandalized with anti Semitic symbols, slurs 'Everyone counts, everybody matters – and thanks to forensic advancements, Danny Mitchell's identity has been restored,' Yost said. 'Our team has gone above and beyond to compassionately work this case, reminding everyone that through partnerships, decades-old cases can be solved.' Mitchell was last seen on April 2, 1980, at a house in the 6300 block of Euclid Ave. He was described as 5 feet 7 and 150 pounds with a close-cut Afro, according to a Call & Post newspaper story at the time of his disappearance. The story said he was wearing blue jeans, an orange flowered shirt, and a black jacket, and was known to wear his 1978 class ring from John Adams High School. Nearly four decades passed before investigators were able to make any headway regarding his disappearance. In November of 2017, the Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) unveiled a clay facial reconstruction of a man whose remains had been found in Summit County in February 1982. Mitchell's family members reached out to the BCI and provided DNA samples after believing that the clay reconstruction resembled Mitchell. However, the remains were determined not to be Mitchell's. Four years later, the remains were identified as Frank Little Jr., who was also a Cleveland resident who had been missing for decades. In 2020, the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office launched an internal initiative to add cold cases to NamUs, a national database of missing and unidentified persons that facilitates comparisons across cities, counties, and states This revealed a possible match between one of the Cuyahoga County unidentified-remains cases and Mitchell's. The remains had been found in May 1980 in an abandoned residence less than a quarter-mile from the house where Mitchell was last seen alive and only several weeks after he was reported missing. The case had gone unsolved for so long due to DNA testing limitations at the time the remains had been found, and they were eventually buried in Potter's Field, a Cleveland cemetery used as a final resting place for unknown, unclaimed, or indigent people since the early 1900s. Investigators used a cluster of scalp hair, which initially did not yield a DNA profile, but after additional testing, provided a partial profile confirming a maternal link between Mitchell's living relatives and the unidentified remains in 2023. However, this was still not enough for a conclusive DNA match. After federal funding was acquired by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to help resolve cases of unidentified remains in 2024, Astrea Forensics was hired to conduct additional DNA testing on the remains. In February 2025, Astrea successfully developed a DNA profile from the hair sample, which was compared to a DNA sample from Mitchell's siblings that confirmed the remains found in May 1980 were Mitchell's. 'We are pleased to provide answers to this part of the investigation so that it may help bring some closure to Danny Mitchell's family,' Gilson said. [SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Yahoo
DNA technology could help identify remains found in Knoxville after nearly 40 years
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — After nearly four decades, DNA profiling and forensic genetic genealogy may help investigators find the name of a man found in a South Knoxville quarry. According to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, on September 21, 1985, a man's remains were discovered in a rock quarry in South Knoxville. It was estimated the man had been dead for a week. The case profile said the man's hair and eye color were unknown. What is NamUs? How a federal database helps solve East TN missing persons cases The man was estimated to be around 5'9″ tall and between the ages of 27 and 34 years old. A spokesperson for the Knox County Regional Forensic Center explained that the man was found wearing a 'Gooding Million Dollar Midway' shirt, and its possible that he may have been associated with the fair because it would have been in town around the time frame. The case was first investigated by Dr. William Bass the spokesperson explained. Bass is known around the world for his research because of his research on the decomposition of human bodies. In 1971, he came to the University of Tennessee and was on the medical examiner's staff, and his work ultimately led the university's Forensic Anthropology Facility, which many may know as the 'body farm.'. Multi-year rehabilitation of Bullhead Trail to cause weekday closures through November In 2017, the Knox County Regional Forensic Center took jurisdiction of the case. In many unidentified remains cases, officials will release a photos of a facial composite of what the person was believed to have looked like when they were alive, but in this case, the forensic center spokesperson said that was not possible because they did not receive the man's jaw from the University of Tennessee. Years later, the case may be one step closer to being solved. Recently, the Knox County Regional Forensic Center submitted the case for Forensic Genetic Genealogy (FGG) through Othram, a Texas-based laboratory, after it was fully funded through grant funds. Othram specializes in DNA sequencing for FGG, which creates new leads for law enforcement by searching for potential relatives of a person based on DNA profiling. Lonely Bones: Stories of the Forgotten Dead One of the concerns when discussing older cases involving DNA is if the DNA sample's age may make it more difficult for an accurate profile to be developed. Earlier this month, the director of case management at Othram, Michael Vogen, explained to 6 News that while there are challenges, they have developed different techniques to help sort out the 'noise,' degradation and contamination to develop a profile similar to would be developed through a current day DNA test that involves filling a tube with saliva. In fact, Othram has had success in helping solve cases as old as the 1850s, he explained. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
