Identified! TX - Gregg Co, WhtFem 18-28, UP3299, Cleft Lip/Cleft Palate, May'02 Pamela Darlene Young

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Also, as per a local history Facebook post by a DDP team member, research has found that she likely has family in the Mount Airy area of Surry County, South Carolina, and that the surnames Bowman, Jessup and Gray could be related to her.
 
From NCMEC - includes some more places and surnames of interest. Given those areas, I wonder if they are working through some endogamy.
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#GENEALOGY ON UNIDENTIFIED IN TEXAS
On May 21, 2002, skeletal remains of a young female were located off of a highway in Gregg County, Texas. Based on the condition of the remains, it is believed she had been deceased for at least two years prior to the date of recovery. She was between 17 and 25 years old, Caucasian, and had an un-repaired cleft palate.
Ongoing genealogy work by the DNA Doe Project reveals she may have relatives in Raleigh County, #WestVirginia. Other areas of interest are Patrick County, #Virginia and Surry County, #NorthCarolina. Surnames of interest include Bowman, Niten/Knighton, Grey and Jessup.
The two ways the public can help develop these efforts is by sharing this post across social media expanding the reach of this information; and as comfortable, anyone originally from the noted geographical areas could upload their DNA into GEDmatch or Family Tree DNA to increase the chances of identifying this female.
Please contact the Gregg County Sheriff’s Office at 903-236-8400 or the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST if you have any information that could help identify this female.
Additional information: www.missingkids.org/poster/NCMU/1225447/1/screen
 
Shame, she has such high matches. Regarding endogamy, she has an elevated number of matches, around 8000, but it is not extreme and quite within "normal" range.

Reminds me of Peggy Johnson who as an adult was not entitled to foster care but had an informal arrangement with someone (who killed her in the end). I really wonder if her case is similar. Cleft lip and palate are quite severe impairments if they were not repaired. She may have had issues eating, speaking and maybe also breathing. Not all cases have that, though, it is really individual and also depends on how much the soft tissues are affected and whether other conditions are present.

I hope she gets her name back and justice
 
Decades old remains found in Texas traced to Raleigh County | WVNS
New DNA technology being used to identify 2002 remains with possible connection to southwest Virginia | WFXRtv
Young lady's body found in Texas in 2002 linked back to Raleigh County

Lt. Hope said it would be of great help if those with the following surnames could offer up any geneology testing they may have done in the past -- Bowman, Niten/Knighton, Gray, and Jessup.

"The problem they've ran into, when they get into second and third cousins, there are intermarriages that are slowing them down to trace the geneology."

"They're hoping to get more surnames," he said.
 
Currently 5 exclusions:

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Missing Person / NamUs #MP1352Sarah Norfleet
Date of Last ContactJune 20, 1993
StateUT
CountyDavis
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Missing Person / NamUs #MP926Kelli Cox
Date of Last ContactJuly 15, 1997
StateTX
CountyDenton
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Missing Person / NamUs #MP6452Brandy Noble
Date of Last ContactMarch 01, 2002
StateTX
CountyPotter
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Missing Person / NamUs #MP2413Tiffany Sessions
Date of Last ContactFebruary 09, 1989
StateFL
CountyAlachua
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Missing Person / NamUs #MP8253Deborah McCall
Date of Last ContactNovember 05, 1979
StateIL
CountyDuPage
 
Identified as Pamela Darlene Young.


«Twenty years after her partial skeletal remains were located by construction workers off Highway 135 in Gregg County, Texas, the Gregg County Sheriff’s Office and the DNA Doe Project have determined that her name was Pamela Darlene Young.

Pamela Young of Arlington, Texas, died approximately two years before her partial skeleton was found, and the Tarrant County Medical Examiner determined she had an unrepaired cleft palate. Despite this clue to her identity, investigators soon ran out of leads to follow and the case went cold.
(…)
The genealogy in this case was extremely complex, and it took almost two years for the experienced volunteers from the DNA Doe Project to narrow down the family tree to identify Pamela Young. A DNA sample from her daughter confirmed the identification.»

 

Some additional info in this article.

In April 2022, the DNA Doe Project identified the remains as Pamela Darlene Young, with a date of birth of December 11, 1971.
After speaking with her family members, authorities discovered Young was never reported missing and was last seen sometime in 1998.
A person of interest was identified with the assistance of the Texas Rangers, but they have been dead since 2017.
"At this time, there are no leads in this case, the GCSO said. Ït is not known exactly how Ms. Young came to be in the open field and no cause of death was ever determined.
Anyone with information n her disappearance and death us urged to call the GCSO or Gregg County Crimestoppers.
 
The case started in May of 2002 when an excavating team was working along Highway 135 and Swamp City Road in the Liberty City area. The team unearthed a human skull and bones while they were working.

From the investigation, it was believed that the bones had been there since 1998. The case was revisited about 10 years ago as technology advanced. With 3D reconstruction, investigators were able to piece together a face.

Chief Deputy with the Gregg County Sheriff’s Office Craig Harrington said they have been receiving assistance from the DNA Doe Project. They have now been able to identify the person whose remains these were.
1658425284351.jpeg
Harrington identified the remains as that of Pamela Young. Harrington said Young was not local to the area and no missing person’s report was ever filed. Harrington also said a person of interest in Young’s disappearance died in 2017.

Harrington said a relative of Young’s was able to identify her after the DNA evidence led them to the relative.
 
The case started in May of 2002 when an excavating team was working along Highway 135 and Swamp City Road in the Liberty City area. The team unearthed a human skull and bones while they were working.

From the investigation, it was believed that the bones had been there since 1998. The case was revisited about 10 years ago as technology advanced. With 3D reconstruction, investigators were able to piece together a face.

Chief Deputy with the Gregg County Sheriff’s Office Craig Harrington said they have been receiving assistance from the DNA Doe Project. They have now been able to identify the person whose remains these were.
View attachment 355317
Harrington identified the remains as that of Pamela Young. Harrington said Young was not local to the area and no missing person’s report was ever filed. Harrington also said a person of interest in Young’s disappearance died in 2017.

Harrington said a relative of Young’s was able to identify her after the DNA evidence led them to the relative.
Her daughter was probably a toddler when her mother disappeared, she was probably said that her mother abandoned her It sounds similar to Harper Avenue Jane Doe case.

Also I don’t see unrepaired cleft-palate on the photo, if Pamela ever had a cleft-palate it looks like it was repared
 

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