The Washoe County Regional Medical Examiner's Office has identified a woman whose body was found in June 1997.
Lorena Gayle Mosley, was 41 years old at the time through forensic genetic genealogy.Â
This technology compared her DNA profile to profiles uploaded to consumer genealogical databases.
While this type of analysis does not lead to a positive identification, it can produce investigative leads for law enforcement.
Mosley’s body was found buried beneath rocks in rural Washoe County on June 9, 1997, by rock climbers.
After an investigation, old paper fingerprint records were positively matched to fingerprints taken from the body.
Authorities say due to severe decompositional changes to her body, the cause of death could not be determined.
Due to the circumstances, the manner of death was deemed homicide.Â
(Washoe County contributed to this report.)
