Genealogy websites may be the key to identifying a woman found dead in the Cumberland River in 1998.
Metro police said she was shot in the head by someone and discovered by Cleeces Ferry.
It’s hard to crack a cold case when you don’t know who your victim is at all. Genealogy websites are helping police narrow down who the woman might be so they can start looking for the person who killed her.
Police said she was probably in her 30s, wearing a Leo zodiac necklace, and Tweety Bird pants.
"The biggest roadblock in this case is not knowing who she is. When you don't know who your victim is, that's a huge obstacle to overcome,” Detective Matthew Filter with the Metro Nashville Police Department said.
A little over a year ago, police submitted blood evidence from an autopsy to develop a DNA profile. They started using two websites for genealogy research. They were GEDmatch and Family Tree.
“DNA is the last ditch effort we have and with the genealogy aspect of being able to utilize DNA, this is something that is going to probably at least get her identified,” Detective Filter said.
Detectives have pieced together the woman was from Chilton County, Alabama. It's between Montgomery and Birmingham.
"So, we've been able to isolate at least a geographical area that she was likely from, but because of the limited number of profiles available for us to look at. It's very hard to build her family tree family to try to figure out who she might be,” Detective Filter said.
With more profiles uploaded on the genealogy websites every day, it could be weeks or stretch to years to identifying the woman.
If you have any information that could help, you can call Crime Stoppers at
615-742-7463 or log onto
www.nashvillecrimestoppers.com.
Callers to Crime Stoppers can remain anonymous and qualify for an additional cash reward of up to $1,000.
Midstate Mysteries: Genealogy websites may help identify victim in 1998 Nashville cold case
