Human remains found in brush 43 years ago just identified, California cops say
Human remains were found in brush 43 years ago in California, deputies said.
DNA testing recently helped identify them as Denise Cruz, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office said in a Nov. 7 news release.
The unidentified remains were discovered in a sleeping bag Feb. 11, 1980, off a road near Trinidad, deputies said.
Investigators said the woman was 20 to 30 years old with reddish-brown hair. She was also 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighed 170 pounds.
An autopsy determined she died from an overdose.
Fingerprints were taken from the woman, but no results came back on her identify, deputies said.
A DNA sample was also added to the California Missing Persons DNA Database and the National Unidentified Persons DNA Index without any matches.
Investigators then submitted a DNA extract from her remains to Othram, a lab in The Woodlands, Texas, that specializes in forensic genetic genealogy, after they partnered last December.
Othram created a DNA profile, which in August suggested the remains belonged to Cruz who was born in 1953, deputies said.
Cruz’s brother submitted a DNA test, and it confirmed the two were related.
She last spoke to her family in September 1979, months before her remains were found.
Deputies said she was transient and had “untreated mental health issues.” Her family said they didn’t know if she intentionally stopped speaking to them.
They never reported her missing, deputies said.
Trinidad is about 310 miles northwest of Sacramento.
This story was originally published November 8, 2023 at 12:22 PM with the headline "Human remains found in brush 43 years ago just identified, California cops say."
