There has been a major break in a decades-old cold case in Arizona.
Investigators in Mohave County used forensic genetic genealogy to identify the victim of a homicide from back in the early 1970s.
"It's a sense of peace and a sense of justice when we can identify them and give them a name," says Lori Miller, an investigator with the Mohave County Sheriff's Office.
A newly released photo shows Colleen Audrey Rice during high school in Ohio.
She was the victim of a homicide that dates back 52 years in Northwestern Arizona. Before now, all the authorities had were her remains.
"She's just been there... a file in a cabinet, a number on a headstone in a cemetery. She had no name, and now she is somebody. So, it's, I can't tell you how rewarding it is," says Miller.
The Mohave County Sheriff's Office tells us the 39-year-old woman was found dead in a canvas sack in 1971. She was left in the desert, near Highway 93.
Investigators released photos of the blouse, pants, and shoes she was wearing at the time.
"Basically, the only thing that they had as far as identification was through fingerprints. So, her fingerprints were attempted, but she was in an advanced state of decay," says Miller.
The Special Investigation Unit revisited the case in 2021.
They worked with an artist who created a sketch of what the woman might have looked like.
A year later, they partnered with the company Othram in hopes that advanced DNA testing could lead them to who she was.
"We use this new technology that allows us to build these more comprehensive DNA profiles, and then upload them to genealogical databases consented for law enforcement use. Then, we use those databases to get really distant relatives," says Dr. Kristen Mittelman, the chief development officer at Othram.
In this case, that's what ended up happening — a distant relative was found and through their DNA sample, a match was made.
"When we first started, we couldn't work with burnt remains, we couldn't work with chemically treated remains...even contamination, but now we can because we ran enough mock cases, and we figured it out. So, there's always hope for these cases," says Mittelman.
The next step is finding out how Colleen ended up in Arizona and who might have known her. With so much time passing, the reality is her killer might be dead but we're told investigators won't stop searching.
"I have a picture taped to my computer. So, when the genealogist called me yesterday, it was like... there was a moment of silence. It's like, 'we, we've done it,'" says Miller.
