Identified! CA - Emigrant Gap, WhtFem 640UFCA, 25-35, near I-80 in snowbank, 17 December 1977 *id'd March 2026 - Melinda “Pip” Beardsley*

[FlyOfDragons]

Is it a known reported MP (digitized or otherwise) or a previously unreported missing person?

known reported MP!

 

[heartanium]

Jane Doe's NamUs page was last updated on Jan. 2, 2026, but there are no publicly visible changes to the page; the updates are likely visible only to LE.

Also -- I hope this is allowed by mods, but a family member of a missing woman has reached out to me, and while I have been asked not to reveal much, I have been asked to make this part public: I've been told that a fingerprint match has been made between Jane Doe and the missing woman in question. Official announcement of the match will reportedly be made after DNA confirmation, which the family is waiting on currently

Good to hear there's been movement on this case! I think about this Doe every so often, I'd be very happy to see her identified.

 

[youngsleuth95]

Bump! Is there any news?

 

[heartanium]

Bump! Is there any news?

Nothing yet it seems

 

[iulia]

Her NamUs page has been removed.

ETA: there is an obvious potential match that was also removed yesterday. I guess we'll find out soon.

 

[FlyOfDragons]

Her NamUs page has been removed.

ETA: there is an obvious potential match that was also removed yesterday. I guess we'll find out soon.

i don’t want to be the first to outright announce it before LE, but i received word from the family a week or two ago — yes, it’s the match you’re thinking of

 

[iulia]

i don’t want to be the first to outright announce it before LE, but i received word from the family a week or two ago — yes, it’s the match you’re thinking of

I'm glad they have answers after all these years.

 

[heartanium]

Glad to see she's finally been identified after all these years!!

 

[PinkButtercup]

Identified as Melinda "Pip" Beardsley by Moxxy Forensic Investigations



Case Solves | Moxxy Forensics

 

[Rikissa]

Melinda's thread on WS as Missing person:

Found Deceased Thread 'NV - Melinda Beardsley, 30, Reno, December 16, 1976 *remains found December 1977 - id'd March 2026*'

Sep 18, 2025

Added to the Doe Network today (09/18/25), not in NAMUS

https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/software/mp-main.html?id=5330DFNV

-

Name: Melinda Beardsley
Case Classification: Missing
Missing Since: December 16, 1976
Location Last Seen: Reno, Washoe County, Nevada

Physical Description​

Date of Birth: October 10, 1946
Age: 30 years old
Race: White / Caucasian
Gender: Female
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 170 lbs
Hair Color: Dark brown, thick, and coarse
Eye Color: Dark brown...

• victoriarobinson642
• Replies: 17
• Forum: Located Persons Discussion

• 
• 

 

[johnnyhands]

Moxxy Investigations has a press release, recently posted, in their Case Solves section (top of the page at this writing):

Case Solves | Moxxy Forensics

www.moxxyforensics.com

=========

The Placer County Sheriff's Office, in partnership with Moxxy Forensic Investigations, and the Reno Police Department, has confirmed the identity of the woman known for decades as the “Emigrant Gap Jane Doe.”

Through advanced research by the Missing Persons Task Force at Moxxy and coordinated investigative efforts, the Jane Doe has been identified as Melinda “Pip” Beardsley, a mother who had been missing since the mid-1970s.

On December 17, 1977, the Jane Doe was found deceased in a snowbank in Emigrant Gap, Placer County, California. She had been the victim of homicide by strangulation and had remained unidentified for nearly five decades.

Melinda Beardsley was born in 1946 in rural Michigan, just north of Detroit. She was the youngest of six children and lovingly known by the nickname “Pip.” As her sister Jill shared, “Melinda was always on the move, an energetic little girl with a dimpled smile and a great sense of humor.”

Melinda was last known to be living in Carson City, Nevada. In 1976, she was arrested for driving under the influence in Reno, marking the last confirmed proof of life her family was able to locate. After that time, contact ceased, and for decades her loved ones were left without answers.

In June 2025, Melinda’s family contacted The Doe Network, a volunteer organization devoted to assisting investigating agencies in bringing closure to national and international cold case concerning missing and unidentified persons. The Doe Network then contacted Moxxy Forensic Investigations to request their assistance in helping Melinda’s family with research into her disappearance. Moxxy’s Missing Persons Task Force conducted extensive research into her life and circumstances of her disappearance. Moxxy successfully worked with the Reno Police Department to ensure Melinda was formally reported missing, creating the opportunity for further investigative steps.

During continued research into potential unidentified human remains, Moxxy’s team identified a possible match between Melinda and the Emigrant Gap Jane Doe. Moxxy then contacted the Placer County Coroner’s Office, who coordinated the collection of a buccal swab from a close family member for DNA comparison.

In February 2026, DNA testing confirmed that the Emigrant Gap Jane Doe was Melinda Beardsley.

The Placer County Sheriff’s Office is now actively investigating Melinda Beardsley’s homicide.

“This identification represents decades of unanswered questions,” said Sgt. Chris Carlton of the Placer County Sheriff’s Office. “We are committed to pursuing justice in this case.”

Moxxy Forensic Investigations is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that specializes in investigative genetic genealogy to identify unidentified human remains and assist in the identification of perpetrators in violent crimes. In addition to this work, Moxxy’s Missing Persons Task Force works alongside law enforcement and partner organizations to conduct advanced research into missing persons cases to bring awareness to their case and provide answers to families.

“Every unidentified person is someone’s child, sibling, or parent,” said Katie Thomas/Co-Founder of Moxxy Forensic Investigations. “Restoring Melinda’s name restores her dignity. We are honored to stand beside her family and our law enforcement partners in this work.”

Most of Moxxy’s cases are funded through private donations. Community support makes it possible for the organization to continue assisting families and agencies in complex cases like this one. Those wishing to support ongoing investigations can learn more at Donate | Moxxy Forensics.

The Placer County Sheriff’s Office is grateful for the support of the newly formed Placer County Cold Case Foundation, a nonprofit organization that helps fund cold case investigations. DNA testing and forensic analysis can be costly, and the foundation helps offset those expenses so investigators can continue pursuing answers in unsolved cases. You can learn more and donate through their website: placercoldcase.org.

Anyone with information related to the homicide of Melinda Beardsley is urged to contact the Placer County Sheriff’s Office Investigation Tip Line at (530)889-7830.

For inquiries regarding Moxxy, contact Katie Thomas at [email protected].

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Melinda Beardsley, born in 1946 and known to friends and family as simply “Pip,” had been living in the Nevada area during the mid-1970s when she went missing. For decades, her whereabouts remained a mystery to her family. That changed the day they were contacted by Placer County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) in California, with a request.

Since December 17, 1977, investigators from PCSO had been working on a chilling involved murder case: a woman found dead in a snowbank in the Emigrant Gap area of Placer County, strangled to death. Despite their extensive investigative efforts at the time, the woman’s identity was unknown.

In 1978, the PCSO distributed approximately 300 copies of the victim’s fingerprints and identifying information to major law enforcement agencies across the U.S. and Canada, as well as the FBI but no matches were located. With no formal identification made, the victim became known as "Emigrant Gap Jane Doe." Jane Doe is placeholder names used in legal proceedings, law enforcement, and general contexts to represent an unknown or anonymous female.

Despite the lack of a breakthrough, forensic techniques continued to evolve as the years rolled by and the PCSO continued to explore fresh investigative avenues. In 2006, the victim’s fingerprints were again submitted to the FBI for comparison. Once again though, investigators received no matches.

DNA​

Then in 2011, the PCSO exhumed the victim’s remains hoping new forensic techniques could assist in identifying her. DNA testing progressed gradually over the next decade. In 2018, investigations were able to obtain a partial DNA profile. Additional work was conducted in 2019, but it was deemed not strong enough for investigative genetic genealogy.

It was only in 2025, when additional portions of the remains were tested and produced that a DNA profile with sufficient information for further investigationwas found. That was when the PCSO began to work with Moxxy Forensic Investigations, a nonprofit organization that assists law enforcement agencies with investigative genetic genealogy and missing persons research. Around the same time Beardsley’s family had contacted The Doe Network, a volunteer organization that works to bring closure to missing and unidentified person cases. The Doe Network then contacted Moxxy Forensic Investigations for assistance.

Mom went missing 49 years ago—DNA discovery finally reveals grim truth

Melinda Beardsley's disappearance haunted her family for years. Now they have answers—but her case is far from closed.

www.newsweek.com

 

[johnnyhands]

Melinda Beardsley's body was found within 1000 feet of the remains of Donna Lass (potential Zodiac victim) on 12-17-1977, and estimated to have been dead two to six days.

Given the near proximity, could it have been the same killer?

I'm thinking, if the Zodiac "Peak Through the Pines" postcard was, indeed, sent from the Donna Lass killer in 1971 (six months after she disappeared), perhaps the placing of the body was another taunt from the killer - again, if it was the same person.

If the Lass killer went through the trouble of making the postcard, he might have grown impatient that Donna had not yet been found - and wanted to give them a challenge/clue to see if they could recover Donna nearby, which they didn't for another nine years - after she was found by Pacific Gas & Electric crew surveying the area (8-5-1986.)

Here's the 12-26-75 Placer Unsolved + Sierra Unidentified interactive map, so you can see how close they were to each other. There are other unidentifieds in that same general area (use the +/- to zoom in/out, scroll down to bottom of the sidebar to uncheck the red-colored Victimology lines, if desired):

Shared Unsolved + Unidentified Sierra - Google My Maps

Click through to see all of the locations and events in time order. NOTE: The EAR cases in Citrus Heights are included because several of the Placer cases involve Greenback Lane. Foothill EAR attack also just off Greenback, and near Placer locations.

www.google.com

 

[HmmMysterious]

Melinda Beardsley's body was found within 1000 feet of Donna Lass' remains on 12-17-1977, and estimated to have been dead two to six days.

Given the near proximity, could it have been the same killer?

I'm thinking, if the Zodiac "Peak Through the Pines" postcard was, indeed, sent from the Donna Lass killer in 1971 (six months after she disappeared), perhaps the placing of the body was another taunt from the killer - again, if it was the same person.

I'm thinking, if the Lass killer went through the trouble of making the postcard, he might have grown impatient that Donna had not yet been found - and wanted to give them a clue to see if they could recover Donna nearby, which they didn't for another nine years - after she was found by Pacific Gas & Electric crew surveying the area (8-5-1986.)

Here's the 12-26-75 Placer Unsolved + Sierra Unidentified interactive map, so you can see how close they were to each other. There are other unidentifieds in that same general area (use the +/- to zoom in/out):

Shared Unsolved + Unidentified Sierra - Google My Maps

Click through to see all of the locations and events in time order. NOTE: The EAR cases in Citrus Heights are included because several of the Placer cases involve Greenback Lane. Foothill EAR attack also just off Greenback, and near Placer locations.

www.google.com

That's crazy, Lass's remains were literally across the highway.

 

[Aegon_the_Conqueror]

Melinda Beardsley's body was found within 1000 feet of the remains of Donna Lass (potential Zodiac victim) on 12-17-1977, and estimated to have been dead two to six days.

Given the near proximity, could it have been the same killer?

I'm thinking, if the Zodiac "Peak Through the Pines" postcard was, indeed, sent from the Donna Lass killer in 1971 (six months after she disappeared), perhaps the placing of the body was another taunt from the killer - again, if it was the same person.

If the Lass killer went through the trouble of making the postcard, he might have grown impatient that Donna had not yet been found - and wanted to give them a challenge/clue to see if they could recover Donna nearby, which they didn't for another nine years - after she was found by Pacific Gas & Electric crew surveying the area (8-5-1986.)

Here's the 12-26-75 Placer Unsolved + Sierra Unidentified interactive map, so you can see how close they were to each other. There are other unidentifieds in that same general area (use the +/- to zoom in/out, scroll down to bottom of the sidebar to uncheck the red-colored Victimology lines, if desired):

Shared Unsolved + Unidentified Sierra - Google My Maps

Click through to see all of the locations and events in time order. NOTE: The EAR cases in Citrus Heights are included because several of the Placer cases involve Greenback Lane. Foothill EAR attack also just off Greenback, and near Placer locations.

www.google.com

The Zodiac theory has been pretty much dropped for Lass. Her family never bought it either. It very well could have been Zodiac that wrote it, but more likely he was taunting the cops. Several reasons:
1) Wasn't Zodiac's MO to take women on dates.
2) No evidence of gunshot wounds.
3) When a call was made to Lass' work by someone claiming to be her landlord, saying that there was a death in her family (there was no death, other than her), she hadn't yet been reported as missing. Zodiac wouldn't have known who his victim was yet, let alone who her landlord was.
4) If she was on a date (which is where she was headed), her companion would've been shot, too. Zodiac would've gleefully taken credit for both. But he didn't mention a second person.
5) Had her date lived, he wouldn't have been secretive (especially if he went to the hospital).
6) The only specific of the crime scene that was mentioned in the postcard was that there there were trees.

 

[johnnyhands]

That's crazy, Lass's remains were literally across the highway.

Are you saying "within 1000 ft" as being too far away? The PCSO Sheriff who wrote report said "approximately 500 ft above the intersection" (the highway & the drum canal intersection.) The location of Melissa was on the other side of the highway - yeah, so I'm calling that at least another 100 feet, but I'm not sure of either - enough to think I should claim to be any more precise about it than "within 1000 feet."

Or, are you saying, because it was across the highway, it couldn't have been a taunt because that wasn't direct enough of a clue?

 

[johnnyhands]

The Zodiac theory has been pretty much dropped for Lass. Her family never bought it either. It very well could have been Zodiac that wrote it, but more likely he was taunting the cops. Several reasons:
1) Wasn't Zodiac's MO to take women on dates.
2) No evidence of gunshot wounds.
3) When a call was made to Lass' work by someone claiming to be her landlord, saying that there was a death in her family (there was no death, other than her), she hadn't yet been reported as missing. Zodiac wouldn't have known who his victim was yet, let alone who her landlord was.
4) If she was on a date (which is where she was headed), her companion would've been shot, too. Zodiac would've gleefully taken credit for both. But he didn't mention a second person.
5) Had her date lived, he wouldn't have been secretive (especially if he went to the hospital).
6) The only specific of the crime scene that was mentioned in the postcard was that there there were trees.

Some of the things you're claiming as facts have been debunked. Here's a link to a private investigator who's looked into the original police and family-hired investigators reports. Note it's from a page that consider the Lass case a Joseph Deangelo-possible, but still worth reading if you want to know more about the Lass case:

Casefiles - Donna Lass

Just as Judith Hakari's case faded from the public eye, another young nurse vanished.

sites.google.com

 

[johnnyhands]

The Zodiac theory has been pretty much dropped for Lass. Her family never bought it either. It very well could have been Zodiac that wrote it, but more likely he was taunting the cops. Several reasons:
1) Wasn't Zodiac's MO to take women on dates.
2) No evidence of gunshot wounds.
3) When a call was made to Lass' work by someone claiming to be her landlord, saying that there was a death in her family (there was no death, other than her), she hadn't yet been reported as missing. Zodiac wouldn't have known who his victim was yet, let alone who her landlord was.
4) If she was on a date (which is where she was headed), her companion would've been shot, too. Zodiac would've gleefully taken credit for both. But he didn't mention a second person.
5) Had her date lived, he wouldn't have been secretive (especially if he went to the hospital).
6) The only specific of the crime scene that was mentioned in the postcard was that there there were trees.

"2) No evidence of gunshot wounds."

Did Cecelia Shepard have gunshot wounds?

 

[johnnyhands]

The Zodiac theory has been pretty much dropped for Lass. Her family never bought it either. It very well could have been Zodiac that wrote it, but more likely he was taunting the cops. Several reasons:
1) Wasn't Zodiac's MO to take women on dates.
2) No evidence of gunshot wounds.
3) When a call was made to Lass' work by someone claiming to be her landlord, saying that there was a death in her family (there was no death, other than her), she hadn't yet been reported as missing. Zodiac wouldn't have known who his victim was yet, let alone who her landlord was.
4) If she was on a date (which is where she was headed), her companion would've been shot, too. Zodiac would've gleefully taken credit for both. But he didn't mention a second person.
5) Had her date lived, he wouldn't have been secretive (especially if he went to the hospital).
6) The only specific of the crime scene that was mentioned in the postcard was that there there were trees.

Strip away the Zodiac suspicions, I'm not wed to them, what do you think about the same-killer notion for Melinda and Donna?

 

[Onlyamemory]

Her body was found nearly a year to the day of her last known contact. Her body showed signs of recent weight loss. I wonder if someone was holding her captive and dumped her body on the anniversary that the killer first made contact with her. Either that or maybe she ended up homeless and vulnerable to predators. I wonder if her fingerprints where taken when she was brought in for drunk driving. Maybe her Post mortem prints never made it to the PD in Reno.

I hope her child now knows that their mom didn't intentionally abandon them and that her family finds answers peace and justice. Rest peacefully Pip.