Latest news with #Ortham
Los Angeles Times
10-05-2025
- Los Angeles Times
Forensic testing links skull remains to Northern California woman missing since 1987
A man was walking along a rocky, picturesque shoreline of Trinidad Head, located about 25 miles north of Eureka, when he spotted something unusual and unnerving. The unidentified man's discovery in February 1993 turned out to be a partial human skull that he handed over to the nearby Fortuna Police Department. To help identify the remains, the police forwarded them to the Humboldt County Sheriff's Department, which extracted a DNA sample and entered that into the California Missing Person DNA Database and the National Unidentified Person DNA index. The remains were unidentified until the Sheriff's Department announced this week it had linked the skull to the 1987 disappearance and death of a 48-year-old woman from Trinity County. The discovery was made through the aid of a third-party forensic tester and a federal grant. Authorities believe the skull fragments are the third set of remains belonging to Kay Josephine Medin, also known as Kay Adams, an elementary school teacher from Hyampom, who disappeared from that rural Northern California community in 1987. No witnesses, potential suspects or charges have ever filed in what authorities classified as a cold case homicide. Her husband, Nickolas, died in 2018. While there's been no progress in finding out who killed Medin, this latest set of remains provides law enforcement another clue. Law enforcement officials credit Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) for providing a community project grant designed to help clear a backlog of cold cases. Within a short span, the Sheriff's Department contacted Othram, a Texas-based forensic laboratory that specializes in genome sequencing that helps disentangle cold cases. The company claimed its assisted in solving 47 cases involving unsolved murders, unidentified remains or unresolved sexual assault kits over the last 90 days. The company utilized its forensic-grade genome sequencing to construct a DNA profile of the DNA sample from the discovered skull fragment. In September, Ortham generated new leads on the possible identity of the skull, which included Medin, to the Sheriff's Department. Included in the report were possible genetic relatives, including a daughter. Sheriff's investigators located the daughter, obtained a DNA sample and confirmed the skull was that of Medin. Ortham said in a release that Medin's case was the 63rd instance of individuals identified in California through its testing efforts. Inquiries sent to Ortham and the Humboldt County Sheriff's Department were not returned. 'While Ms. Medin's case is tragic, I am relieved for the community that it has been brought to rest,' Huffman wrote in an emailed statement. 'Funding like this to help solve cold cases can not only bring justice, but closure to families and communities. I'm proud we were able to do some of that in this case.' The Sheriff's Department said that anyone who has tips regarding Medin should contact investigator Mike Fridley at (707) 441-3024. During the summer of 1987, Medin went missing while her husband was on a business trip. The family property was searched, while friends, family and her personal doctor were interviewed. Medin's purse and personal belongings were found in her home, and the Trinity County Sheriff's Office listed her disappearance as suspicious. Reports from the time said around 100 people, mostly volunteers, searched throughout remote and woodsy Trinity County. The local sheriff acknowledged at the time in an interview that he had run out of leads. Part of the mystery was solved in November 1987 when the Humboldt County Sheriff's office received a package of skeletal remains. A letter was included with directions leading to more, but what was found was still an incomplete set of remains. Those remains were recovered in East Humboldt County, about 45 miles from the Medin home while the skull was discovered 100 miles away on the shore of Trinidad Head.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Yahoo
How Authorities Found Andrea Michelle Reyes 25 Years After Kidnapping
Originally appeared on E! Online The discovery of Andrea Michelle Reyes came after years of searching and a DNA test. The now-27-year-old—who was abducted by her biological mother Rosa Tenorio when she was just 23 months old from New Haven, Connecticut, in 1999—was discovered in Puebla, Mexico, after authorities reopened her cold case file in 2023 and partially utilized new DNA technology. In a statement shared to social media, the New Haven Police Department shared that detective Kealyn Nivakoff had located Andrea after a 'combination of interviews, search warrants and social media,' reuniting her with her father, who had sole custody of her at the time of her abduction. 'Detective Nivakoff determined that Andrea, now in her 20s, had been taken by Rosa to Mexico and was residing in Puebla, a city of over a million people,' the statement, shared to X March 5, detailed, adding that Nivakoff, 'was able to establish contact with Andrea and, in partnership with the DNA testing at company Ortham, confirm the relationship between father and daughter.' More from E! Online Stranded NASA Astronaut Barry "Butch" Wilmore's Teen Daughter Breaks Silence on Debacle Teddi Mellencamp Shares More Tumors Were Found in Her Brain, 2 More in Lungs Amid Cancer Battle Millie Bobby Brown Reveals Her Real Name—and It's Not What You'd Expect The discovery allowed Andrea and her father—whose identity was left anonymous—to have their first reunion in over 20 years. The New Haven police shared that while a warrant to arrest Andrea's mother is still active, it is only viable in the United States and she is 'suspected' to be residing in Mexico. Police indicated that Andrea's father had gone to Mexico himself several times, embarking on futile searches for his daughter until her ultimate discovery by police. The authorities concluded in their statement, 'No cold case is ever closed, we remain committed to resolving every cold case and this is a perfect example of that effort.' News of Andrea's discovery came just days after police in Colorado discovered now-14-year-old Abdul Aziz Khan, who was abducted by his mother in 2017 amid a custody battle that was detailed in a 2022 episode of Netflix's Unsolved Mysteries. 'We're overwhelmed with joy that Aziz has finally been found,' his family said in a statement to authorities. 'We want to thank everyone for their support over the last seven years.' For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App
