Identified! NV - Las Vegas, 'Sahara Sue', WhtFem 17-25, UP159, dentures, jewelry, clothes, Aug'79 - Gwenn Marie Story

[faithx]

This is just my opinion, but I think the announcement/press conference has been delayed due to the multiple mass shootings that have occurred in Las Vegas during the past few weeks.

 

[Springrain]

This is just my opinion, but I think the announcement/press conference has been delayed due to the multiple mass shootings that have occurred in Las Vegas during the past few weeks.

Thank you faithx for bringing this up - I totally didn't even consider that as a possibility.

 

[SimsGuy67]

This is just my opinion, but I think the announcement/press conference has been delayed due to the multiple mass shootings that have occurred in Las Vegas during the past few weeks.

This makes sense, as it's obvious LE aren't in a fit state to hold a press conference about a 1979 cold case while plenty of them are still wounded from the shootings. We'll probably get an announcement by the end of the year.

 

[John/Jane Doe]

After 44 years, Sahara Sue Doe is now Identified

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and Othram Partner to Identify Sahara Sue Doe

dnasolves.com

 

[HmmMysterious]

Managed to get access to newsbank finally

August 15, 1979, The Las Vegas Review Journal, pg 1
View attachment 447862

August 16, 1979, The Las Vegas Review Journal, pg 3
View attachment 447863

"The suspect is a white male about 28 years old, 5'11 inches to 6" tall, weighing about 165 pounds, and having a thin build, light complexion, dark blond hair and a mustache. He was also believed to have been wearing faded blue jeans pants and a shirt."

Gwenn's sister on the Sahara Sue Facebook group said one of the men (Gwenn's ex I think?) who traveled with her to Las Vegas resembles the sketch of the suspect.

 

[Bit of hope]

After 44 years, Sahara Sue Doe is now Identified

Rest easy Gwenn. Sincere condolences to her loved ones. May justice come swift.

Amazing work! CarlK's recon is spot on!

 

[dotr]

Awesome Othram ID and sketch by Carl!

After 44 years, Sahara Sue Doe is now Identified

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and Othram Partner to Identify Sahara Sue Doe

dnasolves.com

Las Vegas Strip murder victim identified 44 years later; police search for suspect

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Las Vegas police have identified a homicide victim whose body was located in a desert area on the Las Vegas Strip more than 44 years ago, the 8 News Now Investigators have …

www.8newsnow.com

''DNA testing led to Story’s identification last month. Texas-based Othram Labs, which works with Metro police to identify cold case victims, made the match, LVMPD cold case investigator Terri Miller told the 8 News Now Investigators.

Witnesses saw Story and an unidentified man visit a now-closed liquor store near the intersection about an hour before the discovery of Story’s body, Miller said.''
''A store clerk described the man as being about six-feet tall with a thin build and a mustache that was a different color than the color of his hair, Miller said''


Police released a composite sketch of the man shortly after the discovery of Story’s body. (LVMPD/KLAS)

Another composite photo of a suspect in the murder of Gwenn Marie Story. (KLAS)

 

[Aurora90]

I wonder if she ended up meeting her bio dad, seeing as isotope testing said she was briefly in California, and Gwenn was heading there to find her bio dad.

Rest in Peace Gwenn.

 

[CelticSummer]

RIP Gwenn. I’m glad you have your name back.

 

[Mysteries1974]

After reading Othram’s article on her identification, it sounds like the two male friends she was traveling with were likely involved. Rest in peace Gwenn Marie Story

 

[Tricia]

Dear Websleuths Members,
I am so impressed with the work done on this thread. It was started in 2006 and you all did not give up.
Thank you for letting Websleuths be a part of your hard work.
Tricia

 

[Aurora90]

After reading Othram’s article on her identification, it sounds like the two male friends she was traveling with were likely involved. Rest in peace Gwenn Marie Story

The sister publicly stated the sketch of a possible suspect looked like one of the male friends.

But then why would they say they dropped her off in Las Vegas when she could then be easily found? As opposed to letting everyone think she's in California?

 

[SimsGuy67]

The sister publicly stated the sketch of a possible suspect looked like one of the male friends.

But then why would they say they dropped her off in Las Vegas when she could then be easily found? As opposed to letting everyone think she's in California?

It doesn't exactly give the impression of someone trying to cover up their crimes. I wonder if maybe only one of the friend's murdered her (Likely the one who looked like the sketch), and the other friend told her family they left her in Las Vegas, without the other person's knowledge? JMO, and also just a theory.

 

[silvernblack]

Since she was looking for her bio dad do we know if her birth name was something else? Here is the dnasolves webpage: After 44 years, Sahara Sue Doe is now Identified

 

[Springrain]

So glad it has officially been released. May Gwenn rest in peace at long last.

It doesn't exactly give the impression of someone trying to cover up their crimes. I wonder if maybe only one of the friend's murdered her (Likely the one who looked like the sketch), and the other friend told her family they left her in Las Vegas, without the other person's knowledge? JMO, and also just a theory.

MOO I personally do feel that the two men killed her (or at the very least both had knowledge of the murder) and purposely left Vegas right after especially with what Gwenn's sister has said regarding the sketch. The "we left her in Vegas!" statement just oozes guilt to me, in my own personal opinion. Like I can see a perp using it as a cop-out, and not an inaccurate one - they did leave her in Vegas - and they probably think they got away with it BECAUSE they did leave her in Vegas and they knew no one would be able to put the dots together in 1979. All MOO

 

[Adrian_Almost_Sleuth]

So glad Gwenn has been identified! This was one of the cases I wish would get solved. Did the family ever mention Gwenn having no teeth as she was found with an upper denture but not a bottom one? Very odd for someone that young to have zero teeth.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Othram, which specialises in forensic genealogy analysis, said in a statement Tuesday that its scientists built "a comprehensive DNA profile for the woman,” leading authorities to possible relatives who provided DNA samples that confirmed “Sahara Sue Doe" was the missing Ohio teen.

Story's relatives told police that she left home in Cincinnati in the summer of 1979, in search of her father in California. They said she travelled with two male friends. Story's family never heard from her again.

When the two friends returned to the Cincinnati area in August that year — the same month that Story was found dead — they told the teen's family that they had left her in Las Vegas, police said.

The police department says it is now turning its focus to those two friends and how Story wound up dead near the Las Vegas Strip.

The breakthrough in Story's case comes amid advancements in genetic testing that in recent years have led to more identifications and arrests in long-unsolved cases — from missing persons and homicide investigations to sexual assault cases.

Young woman's body ― nameless for 44 years ― finally identified

The body was found in an open field in 1979 near what is today a busy intersection of the Las Vegas Strip. Her identity was unknown, until now.

www.1news.co.nz

 

[Springrain]

So glad Gwenn has been identified! This was one of the cases I wish would get solved. Did the family ever mention Gwenn having no teeth as she was found with an upper denture but not a bottom one? Very odd for someone that young to have zero teeth.

I was wondering the same thing. In some other pics of her I have seen circulated as a younger kid and teen she clearly had her own real teeth. I wonder when she got them pulled.

 

[Mysteries1974]

The sister publicly stated the sketch of a possible suspect looked like one of the male friends.

But then why would they say they dropped her off in Las Vegas when she could then be easily found? As opposed to letting everyone think she's in California?

Gwenn wasn’t reported missing so the two had no reason to worry about police trying to match her to the unknown woman found in Las Vegas during the same month. Since there were also no indications that Gwenn met with foul play back then, it’s likely everyone who knew her assumed she decided to start a new life or stay somewhere else.

 

[Springrain]

Gwenn wasn’t reported missing so the two had no reason to worry about police trying to match her to the unknown woman found in Las Vegas during the same month. Since there were also no indications that Gwenn met with foul play back then, it’s likely everyone who knew her assumed she decided to start a new life or stay somewhere else.

Yeah, the more and more we hear about these older cases being solved the more apparent it is to me that it was SUCH a different time back then. Plus, communication between states regarding reported missing people (much less unreported like Gwenn) was already extremely difficult. Like so many other families they probably assumed she just chose to stay someplace else, maybe have a family or something along those lines. JMO