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00:00In 1986, a shocking discovery is made on a roadside in San Diego, California.
00:08What had happened is a man and his wife were walking around that side of the road.
00:14They looked over the ledge and they saw a body.
00:20She was wrapped partially in a quilt, been out there a couple of days, so there was a lot of decomposition.
00:26They called out the police immediately.
00:30Investigators get to work. Who is this woman and who killed her?
00:36With homicide investigations, it's always difficult when you don't know who the victim of homicide is.
00:42The case ultimately goes cold because there's no more leads. There's nothing more to do.
00:47They were very much at a standstill.
00:51But decades later, new investigative DNA technology emerges. Can it solve this Jane Doe case?
01:00Not only is investigative genetic genealogy used to catch criminals, it can identify nameless victims and connect them with families searching for them for decades.
01:10But can it be used in this case?
01:13Welcome to Bloodline Detectives.
01:16San Diego, a scenic city located on the Pacific coast of the Pacific coast of the Pacific coast of the Pacific coast.
01:46Southern California, less than 20 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border.
01:50San Diego County is huge, so it goes all the way to the desert, to the ocean, down to the border.
01:59It's really different depending on where you go.
02:07I live in the country. Lots of people live by the beach. Other people live in suburbia.
02:12I love it down here. I'm from Los Angeles.
02:15But it's just really, for me, it just feels like people are friendly.
02:18Everybody's laid back.
02:20And it's beautiful. It's beautiful in San Diego.
02:23We have a lot of people that come to San Diego for work from Mexico and different countries from the south.
02:30So we have a lot of Hispanic people and culture.
02:33The allure from people from Mexico and south is usually work.
02:45They're escaping poverty. They're escaping violence.
02:49They're escaping something they hope to come north in the hopes of making better lives from themselves and their family.
02:54Now, others come here for the beaches and the zoo and theme parks.
03:02People come down here all the time. It's beautiful down here, and there's so much to do.
03:08San Diego tourism industry is robust and significant.
03:13We have international flights that come in from different parts of the world.
03:17And so we rely heavily on tourism for our county income.
03:26But this beautiful city is not free of crime.
03:30San Diego police are kept busy keeping the area safe.
03:34Our responsibility as a sheriff's office, we are the law enforcement agency for nine contract cities.
03:41But we also handle all the unincorporated parts of the county, including that vast section of the desert and mountains.
03:49I'm a sergeant with our homicide unit.
03:52So I supervise a call-out team of three detectives and myself.
04:00And then for about three years, I was also the cold case sergeant.
04:04I think it's one of the most interesting things I've done on the department.
04:08You're dealing with sometimes very infamous cases from San Diego's past.
04:13The 1980s were probably the busiest time for homicides in this county.
04:22We often talk in the department about the 1980s of being this crazy decade of murder.
04:29There were several notorious serial murders that were running around at the time.
04:34Technology was different in the 1980s.
04:37It was much more difficult to track people's activities than it is now.
04:43Books have been written about as the age of the serial killer disappeared.
04:46Because we can interrupt patterns much more quickly than we could in the 1980s
04:52when we didn't have cell phones, we didn't have the ability to monitor communications like we do now,
05:00we didn't have the cameras that we have available to us.
05:04So I think it was a matter of having to use the evidence that was presented to you,
05:11and kind of the old-fashioned detective work that just relied on the evidence and the interviews.
05:18And we think that one of the problems for investigators at the time
05:22is that the number of murders that were happening made it more difficult
05:28for investigators to pay significant attention to each and every one
05:35because usually there was a new case coming up pretty quickly.
05:42One such case is opened on August 3, 1986,
05:46when a shocking discovery is made in San Diego County.
05:51It was on a road here in San Diego.
05:54State Route 67 is a typical road that connects several of the unincorporated areas of the county
06:02in eastern San Diego County, starts in Lakeside,
06:05and then it travels up through Ramona and then on east into Julian.
06:11It is a primary road now.
06:13It's very busy with traffic, especially as the county has built up over the years.
06:19That area is mountainous, and then there's, like, very few houses on both sides of the street.
06:24It's just kind of a desolate, rural road.
06:27A couple, a married couple, had gone there because there's a little cutout in the highway,
06:33and they were looking for rocks for their garden.
06:36And they were looking over the embankment.
06:38They saw a female lobby.
06:42Finding a female like that is unusual.
06:45It's something that doesn't happen all the time.
06:46So it would have been unusual then and now.
06:50This is pre-cell phone days.
06:52They had to go somewhere to call the sheriff's department.
06:54The husband and the wife went home.
06:58The husband called the police.
07:02The police that responded was a deputy, Donny Sossaman, and Mike Miller.
07:10They'd been out there probably a couple of days, so there was a lot of decomposition.
07:14They really froze the scene and called out the homicide detectives immediately.
07:18The homicide division rushed to the scene to commence their investigation.
07:27The detectives rolled out and started processing the scene.
07:32They're looking for any evidence related to that.
07:35They're obviously very careful not to disturb what evidence there may be.
07:38We have a big area that's desert, and if you have somebody out there just laying out in the sun,
07:48it's going to have an effect on the skin and how fast people decompose and things of that nature.
07:54They thought she was white because there was enough decomposition they couldn't tell.
07:59She was found at the bottom of a fairly short embankment.
08:03She was a couple dozen feet from the roadway.
08:07She was found just like on the other side of the ledge.
08:12This was, at the time, this was all dirt.
08:15It wasn't cement pavement, and there was tire tracks in the dirt.
08:19She was wearing a dress with sandals, and she was wrapped in some sheeting.
08:30The way she was dressed didn't appear she was homeless, or she didn't have a uniform on,
08:35like she'd just come from work.
08:37There's a ton of things that you look for.
08:39If she's wrapped in a bedding, then she must have been either near somebody's house or in somebody's house.
08:45Sometimes there's animal activity.
08:47Sometimes animals will come in, and they'll, like, remove some of the bones and stuff like that.
08:52It's better that she was in an area where there wasn't a lot of foot traffic
08:55because you don't want anybody to, like, disturb the body and lose evidence.
09:03They did what we usually do, where they have someone come out and take pictures.
09:07They have a person from the lab come out to collect evidence.
09:11She was wrapped in a blanket.
09:12There was other evidence around that may or may not have been related to her death.
09:17That part of the investigation could take hours.
09:21The forensic evidence tech will photograph the item.
09:25They'll mark the item, and then they'll put the item in some kind of wrapping
09:28where everything that is in the item, like hairs or dirt or whatever, bugs,
09:33is all saved, and it's put into a bag or sealed pouch.
09:37We had her clothes, her shoes.
09:40She had a little bit of jewelry.
09:43She has no ID, nothing to identify her.
09:47She didn't have a purse, a wallet, any identification.
09:50Detectives were not able to identify her at all.
09:52There weren't any fingerprints of note here.
09:56So there really wasn't a lot done in terms of the evidence.
10:02And then once the investigators and the members of the crime lab team
10:09are convinced that they've finished with the scene,
10:13then the body is taken away.
10:16Investigators have a hard task ahead of them.
10:19They have no substantial evidence to the identity of the Jane Doe,
10:23and serial killers are operating in the area.
10:26They hope the autopsy will reveal some vital clues.
10:29The End
10:32August 1986.
10:44Police in San Diego County, California,
10:46have launched a homicide investigation
10:48after a body is discovered along Route 67
10:51by a couple collecting stones along the roadside.
10:55Detectives so far have been unable to identify the victim
10:58due to decomposition and a lack of evidence.
11:02Even her ethnic identity was not really clear.
11:07She was a lighter-skinned female.
11:12Unfortunately, because it had been a few days
11:16since she had been killed, the body changes.
11:19So it's often difficult to make an identity,
11:23even a guess, over race or ethnicity,
11:28sometimes even sex, depending on the level of decomposition.
11:31But there was some thought that she was a Hispanic female.
11:36But we didn't know she could be anyone.
11:38She could have been somebody who had been in the States for a day,
11:42or she could come from a family that has been in the States
11:46for many, many generations.
11:50The body is taken in for a post-mortem examination.
11:54So if you're trying to identify a body
11:56and they're not from the United States,
11:58dental records might not be available
12:00if they didn't go to a dentist in the United States.
12:03If, you know, you're using fingerprints,
12:10they might not be in whatever system you're using
12:13to compare the fingerprints to.
12:15And you might not have family members
12:16in the United States that are going to the authorities
12:20and reporting their relative as a missing person
12:23because they might not realize
12:25that the person is in another country.
12:28The coroner is able to determine the cause of death.
12:31We learned from the autopsy
12:33that she had indeed been the victim of homicide.
12:37It didn't appear that she had been in a physical fight.
12:41There was no evidence that she had been sexually assaulted.
12:43And that, of course, was a routine,
12:46and still is a routine part of her homicide investigations
12:49to see if something like that happens.
12:52So, no, it was she had not been sexually assaulted.
12:56And so that wasn't a part of the investigation.
13:01She was killed by a gunshot blast to her chest.
13:05No gun was recovered at the scene.
13:08No shells were recovered at the scene.
13:10In fact, it was determined based on the evidence there
13:14that most likely she had been killed elsewhere.
13:16If she had been killed there,
13:17you would expect to see blood transfer
13:20in a way that's consistent with gunshot wounds
13:24if they were done at the scene.
13:25The fact that there was a blanket that was wrapped around
13:28indicated that most likely she was killed elsewhere.
13:32She was killed, like we said, we think somewhere else.
13:35And our suspect was probably driven around
13:37and looked for a place to dump.
13:39Now, whether our suspect knew this area or not,
13:42it's pretty rural now.
13:44It's more of a highway going from one community to another.
13:48So I don't think I'd want to be, in today's world,
13:51pull off the side of the road and try to dump a body there now.
13:53But back then, it was very rural.
13:56There was probably not very many people on that road
13:57any time of day or night.
14:00Very, very few.
14:01So it could have been a person,
14:03OK, I've done this.
14:04I need to get rid of this body.
14:05I'm going to drive around until I find this place
14:07where I know I can get rid of this body
14:10and no one's going to see it.
14:11Investigators cast a wider net
14:16to try and uncover the woman's identity.
14:21And they immediately started looking for
14:23any other females in the area
14:25that had been reported missing.
14:28They would have to go out and interview people.
14:31They'd have to talk to all the neighbors.
14:34The interviews, initially, like back when
14:36the case was first opened,
14:39you know, anybody who was somehow
14:40had heard something.
14:42So there were witnesses.
14:43It was obviously the person who reported
14:45seeing her body.
14:47There were guts of media attention.
14:50There were people who called in and said,
14:51I heard some argument.
14:52Oh, I think I saw a car parked there.
14:55You know, any number of things.
14:56And you go out and interview that.
14:57There are a lot of canyons in the area
14:59in which she was found.
15:00So sound travels.
15:02So they interviewed people
15:05who lived in any of the homes
15:06that were nearby.
15:08There was like a mobile home
15:11and there was a house there.
15:12They were all talked to
15:13and they were not involved.
15:14They had nothing to do with it.
15:18No one really reported anything
15:20other than seeing a few cars
15:21that ultimately not involved.
15:24There was absolutely no evidence
15:25as far as witnesses
15:27or anything like that.
15:28They didn't have anything.
15:30They had no idea.
15:32They didn't have a lot of technology back then.
15:34They can put out BOLs
15:36to different cities that are closed
15:37to see if they have missing persons
15:39or missing identified people
15:41if somebody had made a report.
15:43Things of that nature, not much.
15:46If she had a connection
15:48with the homes that were here,
15:50then perhaps that case
15:52would have been solved decades ago.
15:54But because we're quite sure
15:56that she didn't have a connection
15:57to this area,
15:59you know, this immediate area,
16:00then, you know,
16:02we're not sure where she was before then,
16:05where she was living.
16:07They did everything they could at the time.
16:08They spoke to everybody they could
16:09and they were not able to identify her.
16:12And then the case ultimately goes cold
16:13because there's no more leads.
16:15There's nothing more to do.
16:16And at that point,
16:17you're just hoping that somebody calls in
16:18and says, oh, that's my relative
16:20or I'm missing a relative
16:22or something like that.
16:23But it didn't happen.
16:27When the case is cold,
16:29initially what happens is
16:30the lead detectives will hold that case
16:32once they retire
16:34and maybe they'll turn it over
16:35to someone else who's replacing them.
16:37But after a while,
16:38you can only hand the case off
16:40to so many people.
16:41And then at some point,
16:43we do as a unit,
16:44we determine, hey,
16:44this is going to our cold case file.
16:47She was killed in 1986.
16:51And although her case never closed,
16:54our homicide cases
16:55may get a little chilly,
16:57may get super ice cold,
16:59but we're always reviewing
17:01and re-reviewing cases.
17:04So her case had been re-reviewed
17:08at least twice
17:10to a significant level since 1986.
17:13And usually they get reviewed
17:14because you want to look at the evidence.
17:17Oh, we didn't test the evidence in 1986
17:19because we didn't have a means to do it.
17:20But now in 2004, we can.
17:23So evidence was tested.
17:26We've had DNA for the last several years.
17:29In the early 2000s,
17:30they took out a DNA sample from our victim
17:32and they submitted that into CODIS.
17:35CODIS is the Combined DNA Index System.
17:39It's a database that contains DNA profiles
17:42from convicted offenders,
17:44arrestees,
17:45as well as from crime scene samples
17:48from other cases.
17:50When her body was found in 1986,
17:53CODIS didn't exist.
17:54DNA as a routine part
17:56of homicide investigations
17:58also didn't exist.
18:00But fortunately,
18:01the crime lab here preserved her DNA.
18:05Once the CODIS system was operational,
18:09her DNA was placed in there.
18:11But unfortunately,
18:12you know,
18:13over all these years,
18:14there had never been any hits,
18:15which we wouldn't necessarily expect
18:17because she was a victim
18:18and not a suspect.
18:20Individuals who haven't been convicted
18:22of a crime
18:22or arrested of a crime
18:24aren't going to be in that database.
18:25And so if you're searching
18:27unidentified human remains,
18:30the hope is that a family member
18:32of that individual
18:33will submit a sample
18:35for the CODIS database.
18:36But if they don't,
18:39and if, you know,
18:40maybe a family member
18:41isn't someone
18:43who would be
18:44in our convicted offender
18:46or arrestee database,
18:47then they're not going to hit
18:49to a profile in CODIS.
18:53They can get hits
18:54from familiar DNA
18:55from people who,
18:56family members
18:57who put their DNA in
18:58to see if they,
18:59they're missing family members
19:00ever located.
19:02They got a lot of hits
19:03from around Southern California
19:05in the Southwest United States,
19:06even some far back East,
19:08but none of them
19:09quite matched up
19:09to the victim.
19:10They were very much
19:12at a standstill.
19:15Despite the lack of success
19:16with the CODIS database,
19:18investigators do not give up.
19:20They decide to revisit the area
19:22where the 1986 Jane Doe
19:24was found.
19:25People were re-contacted,
19:30witnesses, for instance.
19:31It was people
19:32that were living in the area
19:33to see if they could
19:33remember anything
19:34or if they had heard anything.
19:36But again,
19:37this remained a cold case
19:40or identity remained unknown.
19:44Yet again,
19:45the case runs cold
19:46for a number of years,
19:47but then in 2019,
19:48a new generation of detectives
19:50decide to have one last go
19:51at identifying the Jane Doe
19:53with pioneering technology.
19:56Will they succeed?
20:10In 2019,
20:12the San Diego Sheriff's Cold Case Unit
20:13is trying to identify
20:15a Jane Doe
20:15whose body was discovered
20:17dumped off Route 67
20:18near Lakeside
20:19back in 1986.
20:21Now,
20:22more than three decades later,
20:24investigators are still trying
20:26to solve this case,
20:27along with several other
20:28major unsolved crimes.
20:32One of those cases
20:33was from 1986.
20:37Now,
20:37she wasn't one of the first cases
20:39that we worked.
20:40We thought that there were
20:42going to be some challenges,
20:43and there were,
20:45given what initial investigators
20:49thought was her identity,
20:51that she was thought
20:51to be Hispanic.
20:53We were extremely interested
20:54in that.
20:56Whatever kind of homicide investigation
20:58we're undertaking,
21:01if it involves
21:02the Hispanic community,
21:03there may be challenges
21:04in getting them to cooperate.
21:07The biggest challenge
21:08is the fear amongst some
21:10in the community
21:11that once we've done our work
21:16with a witness
21:17or a suspect
21:18or a victim
21:20or any of those people,
21:21then somehow our next call
21:23is going to be
21:24to INS or ICE
21:25or the Border Patrol
21:26to talk about
21:27their immigration status.
21:29That isn't our role here.
21:31Our role is to solve crimes,
21:33and we work a lot
21:36on trying to break down
21:38that barrier
21:39that may exist
21:40with some people.
21:41Our victims might be Hispanic.
21:43Our suspects may be Hispanic.
21:45We spend a lot of time
21:47to try to get people
21:48to trust us,
21:49and we have to honor
21:49that trust
21:50because if we break
21:51that trust down,
21:53then that will usually
21:54be the end
21:55of that cooperation.
21:56In reviewing the case,
22:01there wasn't anything
22:02that we saw
22:03over the entirety
22:04of the investigation
22:05and the reinvestigations
22:07that we thought,
22:07oh, we missed somebody
22:09or there was
22:11some significant piece
22:13of evidence
22:13that had gone
22:14either untested
22:16or not looked at
22:17very carefully.
22:18So when we started,
22:20we were really starting
22:21from the beginning again.
22:24With a case like this,
22:26there wasn't really
22:26much to do with it free.
22:27There wasn't anything
22:28to follow up on.
22:29We saw the same
22:30basic information,
22:31a dead woman
22:31on the side of the road.
22:33There was no other evidence
22:34to follow up on.
22:37We started working
22:38investigative genetic
22:39genealogy cases
22:40in early 2019.
22:42We became aware
22:43of investigative genetic
22:44genealogy
22:45through the Golden State
22:47Killer case.
22:48Myself and a few detectives
22:50attended a presentation
22:52given by the FBI
22:53and some of the people
22:54who worked on that case
22:56and that was significant.
22:58This is an individual
22:59who terrorized
23:01Northern and Southern
23:02California for decades
23:03but had gone unidentified
23:05for all that time
23:07until investigated
23:08genetic genealogy.
23:09And when we learned
23:10the processes
23:11that they use
23:12to uncover his identity,
23:16we thought,
23:17well, we have a lot
23:18of cold cases.
23:19We have a lot
23:19of unknown victims.
23:21Why don't we try
23:22to use that here?
23:23So that's where it started.
23:25We formally reopened
23:27her case as an IgG case
23:29in 2022,
23:3136 years after her death.
23:35So what exactly
23:36is this technique
23:37and how does it work?
23:40IgG is investigative
23:42genetic genealogy
23:43and it's DNA analysis.
23:46But it's a different
23:47type of analysis
23:47than what is done
23:48at the crime lab.
23:49And so if you have DNA
23:52from an item of evidence
23:53and it hasn't, you know,
23:56maybe matched to anyone
23:58you've compared it to,
23:59maybe you tried to put it
24:00in CODIS
24:00and it didn't have any hits,
24:02you can try to use IgG
24:05to see if you can get hits
24:07that way.
24:08So when you have
24:09a DNA profile
24:10and you don't know
24:11who it's coming from,
24:13you can take it
24:14and put it into
24:16a genealogical database
24:18like GEDmatch
24:19and see if that profile
24:20hits to any individuals
24:21already in the database.
24:23And what that's telling you
24:24is potential familial relationship.
24:26It's hitting to relatives
24:28of that unknown profile.
24:31The more people
24:32that participate
24:34in these direct-to-consumer
24:35genealogy companies
24:37and allow their DNA profile
24:39to be searched
24:40against law enforcement searches,
24:42that is giving
24:44a better chance
24:45of these unknown profiles
24:46to be able to be identified.
24:48And by building family trees
24:50and identifying,
24:51you know,
24:51these people
24:52that are hitting
24:52to the profile,
24:53you can hopefully determine
24:55who that unknown person is.
25:00IgG would be like
25:02if, say,
25:04I don't know
25:04who my father is
25:05and I want to know
25:06who my dad is,
25:07what I can do
25:08is I can order a kit
25:10from a company
25:10and they'll send it to me.
25:12I'll take the kit
25:13and I'll follow directions
25:14and you're collecting
25:15your saliva.
25:17And then you can send
25:18that back to the company
25:19and the company
25:21will show you
25:23where your ancestry,
25:24like where your people
25:25come from
25:25and who you're related to.
25:28DNA is definitely
25:30a game changer.
25:31The technology
25:32keeps expanding
25:33and growing
25:34and it's being used
25:35in new ways
25:36that are helping
25:37solve cases
25:38that haven't been solved
25:39for decades.
25:40We decided
25:42to do the entire process
25:45of investigative genetic
25:46genealogy in-house.
25:48Most police departments
25:48hire professional genealogists
25:51to do the genealogy
25:52portion of that.
25:54But there were
25:55a number of reasons
25:56why we decided
25:57to do it in-house.
25:58None of us
25:59were experienced genealogists.
26:00None of us did it at home
26:02and had any experience.
26:04But we were experienced analysts.
26:06We were experienced investigators.
26:08And in talking
26:09to professional genealogists,
26:12we thought we could
26:13stand up our skills
26:14that were necessary
26:15to solve these cases
26:16fairly quickly.
26:18The advantage of doing it
26:20in-house is
26:20we don't have to hire that out.
26:22We have a really good lab here
26:23that does a lot of the work.
26:25There are some things
26:26we have to use
26:26outside labs for
26:28to extract DNA
26:29from, you know,
26:30bone or pieces of clothing,
26:33maybe,
26:33or something like that.
26:34And our department's been
26:35very supportive
26:36in financing that.
26:40It really all depends
26:42on the quality
26:45of the DNA.
26:46So when we worked
26:47these IgG cases,
26:48if you have DNA
26:50that's been preserved well
26:52from remains
26:53that were uncontaminated
26:56by decomposition,
26:58then it could be
26:59fairly easy
27:00for a lab
27:01to develop that profile.
27:02We have other cases
27:04where we have
27:05completely degraded DNA
27:06and that may take
27:08much longer.
27:10It could take months.
27:12We can use your hair,
27:13we can use blood,
27:14and it depends on
27:15how well the item
27:17was collected
27:18and preserved.
27:21For this particular case,
27:22I looked at items
27:23of evidence
27:24associated with
27:25the crime scene.
27:26There was a blood stain,
27:28and if I have an item
27:29of evidence
27:29with blood stain on it,
27:31I can take a portion
27:33of that stain
27:34and perform
27:35my DNA analysis
27:36on it.
27:37So I'm doing
27:38four steps,
27:39purification,
27:40quantitation,
27:41amplification,
27:42and detection,
27:42and developing
27:43a DNA profile
27:44from that stain.
27:46So I was able
27:48to get a DNA profile
27:49that we believe
27:50to be from
27:51the victim.
27:52Now that Jane Doe's
27:57DNA profile
27:58is developed,
27:59investigators try
28:00to find her relatives.
28:03So we have our raw DNA,
28:05and we uploaded it
28:06to GEDmatch
28:06and Family Tree DNA.
28:08And usually,
28:09it's no more than a day
28:10before we get the results.
28:12And essentially,
28:13what we get is,
28:14through their websites,
28:16all the people
28:17who genealogically
28:19and genetically
28:20have some relationship
28:23to our unknown profile.
28:26So that's what
28:27is amazing
28:29about this technique
28:30is that,
28:32I remember the very first case
28:33that I worked on,
28:34it was,
28:34it literally was like
28:35Christmas morning.
28:36You go in and like,
28:37oh my word,
28:38this person is related
28:39to all these other people
28:40out there.
28:41They don't know
28:42because the way
28:46that you establish
28:47relationship
28:48through these databases
28:49is through a value
28:51called centimorgans.
28:53And essentially,
28:54centimorgans
28:55demonstrate
28:56genetic distance
28:58that two people have
29:00to each other.
29:01A relationship
29:02of zero centimorgans
29:03means there's
29:03no relationship,
29:04no genetic relationship
29:06between those people,
29:07all the way up
29:08to about 3,500 centimorgans,
29:10which indicates
29:11the closest
29:12genetic relationship,
29:13which would be
29:13a parent-child.
29:15So with this
29:17particular case,
29:18we saw all these people
29:19who were related.
29:21The highest relationship
29:23that we had initially
29:24was about
29:25150 centimorgans,
29:27which at first glance
29:29would indicate
29:29that that known person
29:32and our unknown victim
29:34had a relationship
29:35of maybe third cousins,
29:38maybe second cousins
29:40once removed.
29:41We weren't going
29:42to be able
29:42to determine that
29:43until we started
29:44doing the genealogical digging.
29:46So this individual,
29:48obviously,
29:48for their own
29:49unique reasons,
29:50had their DNA profile
29:52in these databases.
29:53It matched,
29:55indicating to us,
29:56oh, this person
29:57is related to this person.
29:59So yes,
30:00you start looking
30:01into and building
30:04essentially the family tree
30:06of this known person.
30:09Now,
30:09we did that initially.
30:12Like,
30:12we were able to figure out
30:13who this individual was,
30:15this real person
30:16who was related
30:16to our victim,
30:18and build
30:18a significant tree
30:20around that person,
30:21figured out
30:22who his parents were,
30:24who his grandparents were,
30:25and built
30:26a family tree.
30:29We then contacted him.
30:31We knew
30:32at the genetic distance
30:33that he was not close enough
30:35that he would probably know
30:37who our victim was.
30:38So we weren't expecting him
30:39to be able to say,
30:41oh, my word,
30:41I have a third cousin
30:42who went missing
30:43in the 1980s
30:44and we never knew.
30:45You always hope
30:46that you have
30:47those kinds of calls.
30:49Once in a while,
30:49you get that,
30:50and we've had that,
30:51but in this case,
30:52we didn't.
30:53But he was
30:54an amazing resource
30:55for us,
30:56and he really
30:57was a great help.
30:58He became invested
31:01in this case
31:02as much as we did.
31:03And the amazing thing
31:04that we found
31:05with this case,
31:07and maybe it's because
31:08we were investigating
31:09a victim's identity
31:11and not a suspect's identity,
31:13is that all the people
31:14who we call
31:16and others would call
31:17genetic witnesses
31:18became invested
31:20in learning who she was.
31:21They said,
31:22she's a member
31:23of my tribe,
31:24my family,
31:25and even though
31:26I never knew her,
31:27I want to do whatever I can
31:28to help you figure out
31:30who she is.
31:30He tells his family history,
31:31and then we were able
31:32to contact those people
31:34or those people's children,
31:35and then we were
31:36testing them.
31:38It took two years,
31:40and I think we had
31:41over 1,400 people
31:42in our trees.
31:43A lady who was related
31:45to them,
31:45but by marriage,
31:47she said,
31:48call this lady
31:49because I think
31:50she can help you.
31:52And so we called her,
31:53and she said,
31:54I'm going to church.
31:54And I was like,
31:54could you just,
31:55when you go to church,
31:56could you pray that
31:56we find out who she is?
31:58And then she was like,
31:59okay, okay, I will.
32:00And then a couple hours
32:02later, she called,
32:03and she said,
32:03I think I know
32:03who she is.
32:04And we were like,
32:05oh, my goodness.
32:09Now, Detective Browning
32:10and her team
32:11at San Diego Sheriff's Department
32:12are closer than ever
32:13to identifying
32:14the 1986 Jane Doe.
32:16They just need
32:17a DNA sample
32:18from a close family member
32:19of the victim
32:20to finally solve
32:21this puzzle.
32:22In 1986,
32:36the remains
32:36of an unidentified woman
32:37were located
32:38next to a highway
32:39in San Diego County.
32:4436 years later,
32:46investigators
32:46from San Diego
32:47Sheriff's Department
32:48decided to utilize
32:50investigative genetic
32:51genealogy
32:52to try to identify
32:53the victim
32:54using her family tree.
32:56Now, two years later
32:58in 2024,
32:59they found a distant relative
33:01who believes
33:01she knows
33:02the real name
33:03of their Jane Doe.
33:06She was able
33:07to contact
33:08who she thought
33:09her family was
33:10and they called me.
33:12We suspect
33:13that our victim
33:15was Maria Pilar Delgadillo.
33:19What we do
33:19is we verify
33:20that it's her
33:20by getting her DNA
33:21from her son
33:22and matching it
33:23to her original DNA.
33:25The son
33:26was this man
33:27whose mom
33:28had gone missing
33:2940 years before.
33:33I grew up
33:34in a big family
33:35back then
33:36in Mexico.
33:38We didn't have a mom
33:39because my mom left
33:40and we didn't know anything.
33:43At some point,
33:44there was a rumor
33:45that she was killed.
33:48It was just a rumor,
33:49supposedly.
33:53The detective
33:55contacted
33:56and she started
33:58asking me
33:58some questions
33:59about my mom.
34:02Investigators
34:03compare
34:04Leonardo Garcia's DNA
34:05with a sample
34:06from the 1986
34:07Jane Doe.
34:11And it was
34:12a 3,400,
34:143,500
34:14center-morgan match
34:15and we were like,
34:17wow.
34:18You know,
34:19you get excited
34:19and then
34:21what kicks in
34:23is,
34:25wow,
34:26this family
34:27lost their mother,
34:28you know,
34:2940 years ago.
34:32Our victim
34:33was Maria Pilar
34:35Delgadillo.
34:36It was verified.
34:40It was her mom.
34:44So,
34:44it was a lot
34:44of mixed feelings.
34:47Like,
34:47opening my wound,
34:48right?
34:49And it's even hard
34:51to explain
34:52all these
34:52waves of feelings
34:54that I went through.
34:56My mom,
34:57she was,
34:58like I said,
34:58strict,
34:58but at the same time
34:59she was very playful.
35:01She was 42
35:02when she died
35:03and she already
35:04had 10 kids.
35:06So,
35:06her first was
35:07at 19
35:08and her last,
35:10she was 38,
35:11if I'm not
35:12mistaken.
35:14So,
35:14imagine a 38
35:16with 10 kids
35:17in Mexico.
35:19Families will have
35:19a lot of kids
35:20because the oldest
35:21will hitch in
35:22helping out.
35:23So,
35:23my oldest siblings,
35:24they were helping
35:26my parents.
35:27They went to work
35:28and providing,
35:29helping to provide
35:29with money
35:31and so forth.
35:33In a way,
35:33my mom was ahead
35:34of her times
35:35because she was strong.
35:37She wanted the best
35:37for us.
35:39She realized
35:39that we had
35:41a lot of necessities
35:42and she wanted
35:43to help out
35:44and she knew
35:45that something
35:46had to be done
35:47and that's how
35:49she made the choice
35:51to come to the States.
35:53It took a lot
35:54for her
35:54to make that decision
35:56and so she actually
35:59talked to one
36:00of my oldest brothers.
36:03She told him
36:04that she was planning
36:05to make this trip
36:07and my brother
36:10was not happy
36:11about it.
36:12He told her
36:12not to do it.
36:14He was thinking
36:15about the younger ones
36:15like it would be
36:16too much for the family.
36:19There was this lady
36:19that she used
36:21to come back
36:21and forth
36:22to California.
36:23My mom knew
36:24that she was leaving.
36:25That lady was
36:26coming back
36:28to the States
36:28and my mom asked her
36:31like can I
36:32tag along?
36:33Can I go with you?
36:35And she's like sure.
36:37That's how they used
36:38to do it before.
36:39Like people will
36:40tag along with others
36:41to make this trip.
36:46That's how she decided
36:47so she didn't
36:48did it on her own.
36:49She came with
36:50another person.
36:51And I vividly remember
36:55her making her suitcase
36:57for that.
36:59A month after that
37:01we got a letter
37:02from San Diego.
37:03So it was a letter
37:04from my mom.
37:07She was about
37:07to start working
37:08that she was going
37:09to take care
37:09of some kids
37:10and that she was
37:11going to start
37:13sending us money.
37:14In the second letter
37:14that's when she told us
37:15like I finally
37:16is going to start
37:17I'm going to start
37:18getting a job
37:19but she didn't
37:20give us a lot
37:20of details
37:21and then we replied
37:22to the letter
37:23and then after that
37:25it was silent.
37:26I didn't know anything.
37:28I talked to this lady
37:30after talking
37:32to the detective
37:34so for all these years
37:36I forgot completely
37:38that she was around.
37:40There was a lot
37:41of misconceptions
37:41of how things happen
37:43almost having the idea
37:46that my mom left us
37:48like she decided
37:49to move on
37:51with her life
37:52and perhaps
37:53have another family
37:54and I grew up
37:56thinking that
37:57that was her choice.
37:59I remember seeing
38:00this lady
38:00I got her number
38:01and actually talked
38:02to her.
38:02This lady told me
38:03that your mom left
38:05with the idea
38:06to help out
38:07your dad
38:08and you guys.
38:10She was crying
38:11the whole time.
38:13My cousin
38:15he stopped by
38:16the address
38:17in San Diego
38:18to try
38:19to look up
38:20for her
38:20but nobody
38:22knew about
38:24about her
38:24so this
38:26this was
38:27in 1986.
38:29She left
38:30the house
38:31late April
38:33and by August
38:35they found
38:36her body.
38:39Thanks to
38:40investigative
38:40genetic genealogy
38:41Maria finally
38:43has her identity
38:44back
38:44and her family
38:45knows why
38:46she never
38:46returned.
38:49IgG was
38:50important in
38:51this case
38:51because it
38:52identified
38:53a homicide
38:54victim.
38:55It allowed
38:55investigators
38:57an opening
38:58into investigating
38:59the case
38:59in a way
39:00they weren't
39:00able to
39:00in the past
39:01and it also
39:02allowed her
39:03family
39:04to know
39:06who she was
39:07and where
39:08she was found
39:09and give them
39:09a little bit
39:10more information
39:11about her
39:11circumstances.
39:13It's very
39:14satisfying
39:15because you're
39:15bringing some
39:16answers to
39:17these people.
39:18One is a big
39:19project that the
39:20detective has been
39:21working on for
39:21two years
39:23so it's like
39:23any project
39:25or anything
39:25you're doing
39:26that takes a
39:27long time
39:27and you finally
39:27accomplish it
39:28there's a sense
39:28of relief
39:29I think what's
39:30added on with
39:31this is
39:31this is
39:31the murder
39:33of an innocent
39:33person and the
39:34family that thought
39:35they had abandoned
39:36them so you sort
39:37of add that
39:38emotion into it
39:39it's hard to
39:40describe it's one
39:41of the things that
39:41makes this job
39:42worth doing.
39:45One burning
39:46question remains
39:47in this case
39:48who killed
39:51Maria in
39:521986?
39:56Maria Pilar
39:57Delgadillo
39:57was killed
39:58in 1986
39:58in San Diego
39:59County
40:00her identity
40:01remained unknown
40:03for almost
40:0540 years
40:06until early
40:082024
40:09when we were
40:10able to give
40:11her name back
40:11and then at
40:12that point
40:13we were able
40:14to finally
40:15reopen the
40:16homicide
40:16investigation
40:17and with
40:19the hopes
40:19of learning
40:19who may have
40:20been responsible
40:21for killing
40:21her.
40:24Because we
40:25now know
40:25who she is
40:26and know
40:26a little bit
40:27about her
40:27connections
40:28to people
40:29and her
40:29travels
40:30we do have
40:32some persons
40:33of interest
40:33that we are
40:35examining
40:36and to date
40:38though her
40:39homicide remains
40:40unsolved.
40:41we have significant
40:43leads to continue
40:44the investigation
40:44and those leads
40:46came up pretty
40:47quickly once we
40:47identified her
40:48and that
40:49investigation is
40:50ongoing
40:50and we have
40:51people that we
40:52still want to
40:52continue to talk
40:53to and now
40:54new evidence
40:55to process
40:56and compare.
40:57and we're hoping
40:58and we're hoping
40:58that there's
40:59somebody watching
40:59this program
41:00who may be
41:01able to give
41:02us some
41:02information
41:03regarding
41:04Maria
41:04or whoever
41:05is responsible
41:06for Maria's
41:07death.
41:07my focus was
41:11to bring closure
41:13to find closure
41:14and to
41:15honor my mom's
41:17legacy
41:18my mom's
41:19memories
41:20that's the main
41:22idea
41:22that I'm
41:23willing to
41:25share her story
41:26I cannot do
41:28anything about
41:29who did it
41:30the person
41:30that did it
41:31I trust
41:32if some
41:34time will
41:35come to light
41:36the authorities
41:38will take
41:39the steps
41:40needed
41:40most of them
41:42felt like she
41:42was deceased
41:44and you know
41:45we would have
41:46liked to have
41:47been able to
41:47give them a
41:48better answer
41:48to the story
41:49but the fact
41:50that we were
41:50able to
41:51give them
41:52their mom
41:53back
41:53and give them
41:55I don't know
41:56if closure
41:56is the right
41:57word
41:57but some
41:59measure of
42:00some knowledge
42:01about what
42:02happened to
42:02their mom
42:03was gratifying
42:04to us
42:04closure means
42:06different things
42:06to different
42:07people
42:07you know
42:07the thing
42:08was we
42:08found
42:08we provide
42:09some closure
42:09to the fact
42:10that she
42:11just didn't
42:11abandon you
42:12but then we
42:13basically opened
42:14up a new
42:14wound with
42:14she was
42:15murdered
42:15we've
42:16gone to
42:17some families
42:18and solved
42:19the murder
42:19but the suspect
42:21had died
42:22before we
42:23solved it
42:23and I
42:25want to say
42:25we solved
42:26the mystery
42:26for them
42:27but then
42:27there was
42:28no one
42:29to take
42:29to trial
42:30there was
42:30no one
42:31to seek
42:32justice
42:32from
42:32so sometimes
42:34people's
42:34version of
42:35closure
42:36is different
42:37for everybody
42:37taking
42:38somebody's
42:39life
42:39could be
42:41one of the
42:42worst things
42:42that can
42:43happen
42:43and the
42:46fact that
42:47like I said
42:48that currently
42:50I don't hold
42:51any negative
42:51emotions
42:52is because
42:54I've done
42:55some of my
42:55own work
42:56I process
42:58this
42:58and try
42:59to find
42:59a narrative
43:00and
43:01mainly
43:02not to
43:03affect
43:04myself
43:05this is not
43:06the same
43:06case for
43:07my other
43:08siblings
43:08especially
43:09my older
43:11sister
43:11she does
43:12ask me
43:13have you
43:13talked
43:14to the
43:14detectives
43:16is there
43:16anything
43:18else
43:18anything
43:19any more
43:20information
43:20and I
43:23tell her
43:23that
43:24if they
43:26do
43:26find out
43:28they will
43:28let us
43:29know
43:29and
43:30she believes
43:31that there's
43:32a need
43:33or urgency
43:34to keep
43:36on
43:36asking them
43:37my urgency
43:38was to
43:39bring my
43:39mom to
43:40my dad
43:40they had
43:42a funeral
43:43for her
43:43Leonardo
43:44had it on
43:45Facebook
43:45and it was
43:46amazing
43:46because
43:46I popped
43:47in there
43:48and was
43:48watching it
43:49and you
43:50could see
43:50all the
43:50different
43:51people
43:51and all
43:51these
43:52different
43:52houses
43:52and different
43:53parts of
43:53Mexico
43:53that
43:54were
43:54watching it
43:55and crying
43:56after almost
43:5740 years
43:57these are
43:58people that
43:58loved her
43:59and knew
43:59her
43:59it was a
44:02very beautiful
44:02ceremony
44:03usually
44:05funerals
44:06are
44:06a week
44:08or two
44:09or maybe
44:09a month
44:10after
44:10that person
44:11passed
44:11not 38
44:13or 39
44:14years after
44:15it was a
44:16very beautiful
44:16ceremony
44:17that the
44:18priest was
44:18able to
44:19to discuss
44:20forgiveness
44:21and
44:22being able
44:24to move
44:25on
44:25and also
44:26hope
44:27the priest
44:29was able
44:30to list
44:31all my
44:32siblings
44:32and myself
44:33and my
44:33dad
44:34and
44:35how
44:36mom's
44:38death
44:39impacted
44:39the whole
44:40family
44:40and how
44:42we grew
44:43up not
44:44having
44:44having a
44:46mom
44:47and
44:47for my
44:49siblings
44:49to have
44:50their kids
44:51not having
44:51their
44:52grandma
44:52everybody
44:54was pleased
44:56with the
44:56ceremony
44:57with the
44:57services
44:58we had
44:59we had a
44:59mass
45:00and then
45:00went to
45:01the cemetery
45:02and opened
45:03my dad's
45:04resting place
45:05and
45:06put my
45:08mom's
45:08ashes
45:09there
45:09my
45:11cousin
45:12Ophelia
45:13she
45:13she sings
45:15beautifully
45:15and she
45:16was able
45:17to sing
45:17a couple
45:18songs
45:18during
45:19the
45:20process
45:22when
45:22they placed
45:23the ashes
45:24and
45:25it was
45:25very
45:26emotional
45:26and there
45:27was a lot
45:28of wind
45:28and actually
45:29we took it
45:30as if
45:31my mom
45:32was saying
45:33goodbye
45:33or my dad
45:34was happy
45:35to have
45:36my mom's
45:37remain
45:37with him
45:38so
45:40it was a
45:41very emotional
45:42moment
45:43it was
45:44closure
45:44for us
45:45and
45:47I
45:48I
45:48I
46:02I
46:03I
46:03I
46:03I
46:07I
46:07I
46:11I
46:12I
46:13I
46:13I
46:14I
46:14I
46:14I
46:15I
46:15Transcription by CastingWords
Recommended
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1:38:39
41:34
43:11
43:10
43:10
43:11
43:10
43:10
43:12
44:12
43:12
1:28:16
44:04
43:11
43:12
43:33
43:33
46:36
41:32
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