Chassa0945
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<modsnip> So many unanswered questions
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Identified! MI - Coopersville, "Matilda", Wht/Hisp/NativFem 35-45, UP9900, Nov'94 - Shelly Rae Kephart (Christian)
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Chassa0945
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<modsnip> It actually is great that people are still talking about her case. Her murder is walking free!!If any of you come across the name of the tentatively identified person, please remember to not share it. I can't imagine how her family is feeling right now
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To ensure that factual information is discussed on WS, links to MSM reports or LE statements are required for statements made as fact. The exception to this rule is when we have a Verified Insider that is a family member or friend to the victim or missing person.
The Verified Insider process is completely confidential and details can be found here: Verification Process for Professional or Insider Posters
To adhere to the standards WS has in place and best support families any posts stated as fact when someone is not a VI will be removed. Upon completion of the VI process, these posts may be reinstated.
Thanks for your understanding and feel free to use the report feature on this post or PM a Mod/Admin if you have any questions on the VI process. Thanks for helping keep Websleuths amazing!
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The DNA Doe Project would like to announce that Ottawa Co Jane Doe 1994 has been identified and confirmed. Read more about this case and the work of DNA Doe Project here: https://dnadoeproject.org/.../matilda-ottawa-co-jane-doe.../
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On Jan. 20, 2022, the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) and the DNA Doe Project (DDP) announced the identification of the skeletal as Shelly Rae Christian. DDP used investigative genetic genealogy to solve the 27-year-old cold case that was known as Matilda Ottawa Co Jane Doe 1994.
Christian was born on Feb. 13, 1964 and had been living in Minneapolis. She was reported missing by her family in October 1993.
Republished courtesy of DDP. Photos credit: OCSO.
https://www.forensicmag.com/582932-DDP-Helps-ID-1994-Jane-Doe-Found-in-Michigan-Woods/
DDP Helps ID 1994 Jane Doe Found in Michigan Woods
Christian was born on Feb. 13, 1964 and had been living in Minneapolis. She was reported missing by her family in October 1993.
Republished courtesy of DDP. Photos credit: OCSO.
https://www.forensicmag.com/582932-DDP-Helps-ID-1994-Jane-Doe-Found-in-Michigan-Woods/
DDP Helps ID 1994 Jane Doe Found in Michigan Woods
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RubyMoon)O(
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Possibly missing dentures.
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On Nov. 6, 1994, rabbit hunters stumbled upon the remains of a woman, initially unidentified, in a ditch between Coopersville and Grand Rapids near 32nd Avenue and Arthur Street.
For decades, the remains were referred to only as “Matilda.” But in 2022, genetic genealogy identified her as Shelly Rae Christian of Minnesota.
An undated photo of Shelly Kephart Christian that family asked be used, saying it showed her as she was when she died.
“My sister, Shelly, she was a caring person,” Shanna Christian said in a Zoom interview with Target 8. “She would help anyone out.”
Shelly Christian was 29 the last time her sister saw her in October 1993. Shanna Christian has no idea how or why her sister made her way to West Michigan.
“I can’t thank Michigan enough for loving my sister before I knew where she was,” Shanna Christian said.
She said her sister had long struggled with addiction, a journey that began with pain pills when she underwent multiple knee surgeries as a teen. Shanna Christian believes her sister may have been doing sex work in Grand Rapids, partly because of a clue found near her remains.
“The shoe that was found,” Shanna Christian explained. “It was a blue high heel shoe. She was not stable on high heels. She wore tennis shoes. She would only wear that type of clothing when she was out.”
A blue high heel found at the crime scene of the murder of Shelly Rae Christian.
She believes there’s still stigma associated with the commercial sex industry.
“Serial killers pick them because they believe no one will care. No one’s looking for them,” she said. “And that is not true. It’s not… I want to find out who did this. This is my new passion.”
www.woodtv.com
For decades, the remains were referred to only as “Matilda.” But in 2022, genetic genealogy identified her as Shelly Rae Christian of Minnesota.
“My sister, Shelly, she was a caring person,” Shanna Christian said in a Zoom interview with Target 8. “She would help anyone out.”
Shelly Christian was 29 the last time her sister saw her in October 1993. Shanna Christian has no idea how or why her sister made her way to West Michigan.
“I can’t thank Michigan enough for loving my sister before I knew where she was,” Shanna Christian said.
She said her sister had long struggled with addiction, a journey that began with pain pills when she underwent multiple knee surgeries as a teen. Shanna Christian believes her sister may have been doing sex work in Grand Rapids, partly because of a clue found near her remains.
“The shoe that was found,” Shanna Christian explained. “It was a blue high heel shoe. She was not stable on high heels. She wore tennis shoes. She would only wear that type of clothing when she was out.”
She believes there’s still stigma associated with the commercial sex industry.
“Serial killers pick them because they believe no one will care. No one’s looking for them,” she said. “And that is not true. It’s not… I want to find out who did this. This is my new passion.”
Murdered or missing in Grand Rapids: 17 women, little justice
In the mid-1990s, 17 women, many of them sex workers, went missing or were murdered in Grand Rapids, most vanishing from the red-light district along Division Avenue South. Among all those cases, o…
www.woodtv.com
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Late to the reply. Where she was from and where she was found has convenient access via the interstate. The drive can be completed in a day. From Minneapolis take I-94. I-94 will go through Wisconsin, Chicago and parts of Michigan. Then about 50 miles from where she was found, get on I-96 towards Grand Rapids. These are highways and there are no stop signs or lights, only exits and on ramps. Speed limit is 65 mph/(104 km/hr) and people drive fairly fast and often exceed the speed limit.
We've driven from Chicago to Minneapolis
Also have driven from Milwaukee to Detroit on I-94
There are plenty of opportunities to meet people along the way.
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Identified Victim of an Unsolved Michigan Murder...
Shelly Rae Kephart Christian, age 29 was murdered some time in 1994. Unidentified for 26 Years, she was finally identified in 2022 through DNA
-----------------------------------------------------
1994 cold case victim 'Matilda' identified as Minnesota woman...
By Audra Gamble and Carolyn Muyskens Holland Sentinel USA TODAY NETWORK WEST OLIVE:
After over 26 years, the skeletal remains of a woman found in Ottawa County have been identified as those of a Minnesota woman.
The remains were found in Wright Township near Coopersville on Nov. 6, 1994, by hunters at the dead end of 32nd Avenue south of Arthur Street. After a forensic autopsy, it was ruled the woman died by homicide.
While the case has remained open since the body was found, the woman has been referred to only as 'Matilda,' since police didn't know her actual identity. Through DNA forensics, the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office has now identified the woman as Shelly Rae Kephart, who went by the name Shelly Rae Christian.
Christian, who was 29 when she went missing in 1993, was from Minnesota's Hennepin County (near Minneapolis), but was last known to be in Grand Rapids in February 1994.
Although Christian has now been identified, no suspect in her murder has been identified and no criminal charges have been filed in her case. The 'Matilda' cold case is Ottawa County's third-oldest unsolved cold case. The only cases that have gone unsolved longer than is the 1977 death of Deb Polinsky and the 1967 death of another unidentified woman, known as 'Jenny.'
The Ottawa County Sheriff's Office obtained a DNA profile of Christian in 2007, but she could not be identified because her DNA was not in the national Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) used by the FBI. Since February 2021, the sheriff's office has been working with federal, state and local law enforcement along with the DNA Doe Project to identify Christian.
The DNA Doe Project uses forensic genealogy to identify victims of crime, matching victim DNA to living relatives' DNA in various DNA databases. In September of last year, Ottawa County detectives Sara Fillman and Allison Anderson traveled to Minnesota based on information from the DNA Doe Project to make contact with the family of missing woman Shelly Rae Christian.
Ottawa County Sheriff's Office Capt. Jake Sparks said Christian's mother is still alive, as are Christian's children.
'Although as investigators it's exciting to have such a breakthrough, we want to acknowledge it's also a sad time for the family,' Sparks told The Sentinel.
DNA samples taken from the family of Christian were compared to the sample from the victim. Earlier this week, the FBI Crime Laboratory confirmed a kinship association with the family in Minnesota and the victim. Ottawa County's medical examiner Stephen Cohle, who performed
the original autopsy on 'Matilda' back in 1994, positively identified her remains as those of Christian.
While it's still too early for the sheriff's office to have any specific theories about how or why Christian was killed, Sparks is optimistic their investigation may yield results.
'All this time, the investigation has been into trying to identify the victim,' Sparks said. 'Now that we've identified the victim, we can really start the investigation. We're looking at all theories and we're remaining objective.'
It's possible Christian was killed as part of several murders of women in the Grand Rapids area at the time of her death.
'In 1994 there were a lot of prostitutes being killed in the Grand Rapids area, and then their bodies were being discarded in various areas,' Fillman told The Sentinel in 2019 .
Sparks hopes that now the victim's name and photos have been released, investigators can backtrack to see who Christian was with, why she came to Michigan and hopefully who she was associating with.
'Until you know whose death you're investigating, it's very, very difficult to do an investigation,' Sparks said. 'Maybe we have someone who steps forward and says, 'Yes, I knew her,' an old roommate or coworker who can provide some answers, and we can try to drill down into it and figure out who was in her life at the time. None of that can really start until we have her name.'
Anyone with any information about this investigation or who knew Christian is asked to contact the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office or Silent Observer at 1-877-88 SILENT (745368) or mosotips.com. Christian was known to wear unique glasses as can be seen in one of the photographs. She may or may not have worn them near the time of her death.
LINK:
www.findagrave.com
Shelly Rae Kephart Christian, age 29 was murdered some time in 1994. Unidentified for 26 Years, she was finally identified in 2022 through DNA
-----------------------------------------------------
1994 cold case victim 'Matilda' identified as Minnesota woman...
By Audra Gamble and Carolyn Muyskens Holland Sentinel USA TODAY NETWORK WEST OLIVE:
After over 26 years, the skeletal remains of a woman found in Ottawa County have been identified as those of a Minnesota woman.
The remains were found in Wright Township near Coopersville on Nov. 6, 1994, by hunters at the dead end of 32nd Avenue south of Arthur Street. After a forensic autopsy, it was ruled the woman died by homicide.
While the case has remained open since the body was found, the woman has been referred to only as 'Matilda,' since police didn't know her actual identity. Through DNA forensics, the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office has now identified the woman as Shelly Rae Kephart, who went by the name Shelly Rae Christian.
Christian, who was 29 when she went missing in 1993, was from Minnesota's Hennepin County (near Minneapolis), but was last known to be in Grand Rapids in February 1994.
Although Christian has now been identified, no suspect in her murder has been identified and no criminal charges have been filed in her case. The 'Matilda' cold case is Ottawa County's third-oldest unsolved cold case. The only cases that have gone unsolved longer than is the 1977 death of Deb Polinsky and the 1967 death of another unidentified woman, known as 'Jenny.'
The Ottawa County Sheriff's Office obtained a DNA profile of Christian in 2007, but she could not be identified because her DNA was not in the national Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) used by the FBI. Since February 2021, the sheriff's office has been working with federal, state and local law enforcement along with the DNA Doe Project to identify Christian.
The DNA Doe Project uses forensic genealogy to identify victims of crime, matching victim DNA to living relatives' DNA in various DNA databases. In September of last year, Ottawa County detectives Sara Fillman and Allison Anderson traveled to Minnesota based on information from the DNA Doe Project to make contact with the family of missing woman Shelly Rae Christian.
Ottawa County Sheriff's Office Capt. Jake Sparks said Christian's mother is still alive, as are Christian's children.
'Although as investigators it's exciting to have such a breakthrough, we want to acknowledge it's also a sad time for the family,' Sparks told The Sentinel.
DNA samples taken from the family of Christian were compared to the sample from the victim. Earlier this week, the FBI Crime Laboratory confirmed a kinship association with the family in Minnesota and the victim. Ottawa County's medical examiner Stephen Cohle, who performed
the original autopsy on 'Matilda' back in 1994, positively identified her remains as those of Christian.
While it's still too early for the sheriff's office to have any specific theories about how or why Christian was killed, Sparks is optimistic their investigation may yield results.
'All this time, the investigation has been into trying to identify the victim,' Sparks said. 'Now that we've identified the victim, we can really start the investigation. We're looking at all theories and we're remaining objective.'
It's possible Christian was killed as part of several murders of women in the Grand Rapids area at the time of her death.
'In 1994 there were a lot of prostitutes being killed in the Grand Rapids area, and then their bodies were being discarded in various areas,' Fillman told The Sentinel in 2019 .
Sparks hopes that now the victim's name and photos have been released, investigators can backtrack to see who Christian was with, why she came to Michigan and hopefully who she was associating with.
'Until you know whose death you're investigating, it's very, very difficult to do an investigation,' Sparks said. 'Maybe we have someone who steps forward and says, 'Yes, I knew her,' an old roommate or coworker who can provide some answers, and we can try to drill down into it and figure out who was in her life at the time. None of that can really start until we have her name.'
Anyone with any information about this investigation or who knew Christian is asked to contact the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office or Silent Observer at 1-877-88 SILENT (745368) or mosotips.com. Christian was known to wear unique glasses as can be seen in one of the photographs. She may or may not have worn them near the time of her death.
LINK:
Shelly Rae Kephart Christian (1964-1994) - Find a...
1994 cold case victim 'Matilda' identified as Minnesota woman Audra Gamble and Carolyn Muyskens Holland Sentinel USA TODAY NETWORK WEST OLIVE — After over 26 years, the skeletal remains of a woman found in Ottawa County have been identified as those of a Minnesota woman. The remains were found...
www.findagrave.com
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