Found Deceased NV- Anna Sylvia Just, 29, from Canada, Las Vegas, 3 Mar 1968

[Pennysmom1]

Missing Person / NamUs #MP133978

View NamUs missing persons case MP133978, for Anna Sylvia Just, missing from Las Vegas, Nevada. Date of last contact: Mar 03, 1968. NCMEC case number: --.

namus.nij.ojp.gov

Missing Age 29 Years​

Current Age 86 Years​

First Name Anna​

Middle Name Sylvia​

Last Name Just​

Nickname/Alias--​

Sex Female​

Race / Ethnicity White / Caucasian​

Height 5'-6" - (66 - inches) --​

Weight 100 - 200 lbs --​

Tribe Enrollment/Affiliation--​

Associated Tribe(s)--​

Circumstances​

Date of Last Contact March 3, 1968​

NamUs Case Created November 26, 2024​

Last Known Location (Map)​

Location Las Vegas, Nevada 89101​

County Clark County​

Missing From Tribal Land No​

Primary Residence on Tribal Land No​

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Circumstances of Disappearance​

Anna Sylvia Just, a Canadian resident, left Calgary, Canada on or about 08/17/1966. Investigators from Calgary, Canada Police Department and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, believe Just traveled to Las Vegas, Clark County, Nevada. In 1968, Just's personal belongings to include her suitcase, purse, bloody clothing, and miscellaneous items were located buried in the desert area south of Las Vegas.​

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Physical Description​

Hair Color Blond/Strawberry​

Head Hair Description--​

Body Hair Description--​

Facial Hair Description--​

Left Eye Color Blue​

Right Eye Color Blue​

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If anyone has a Newspapers subscription, there is an article I cannot access. I'd love to see it as there is almost NO info about Anna.​

Calgary Herald from Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Get this Calgary Herald page for free from Tuesday, March 26, 1968 Deer To Buy Industrial Site HELEN Dork. RUSSELL apartment block on Selkirk Red Blvd.. Edition of Calgary Herald

www.newspapers.com

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[HopeRains]

Article clipped from Calgary Herald

Clipping found in Calgary Herald published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada on 3/26/1968.

www.newspapers.com

Article clipped from Calgary Herald

Clipping found in Calgary Herald published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada on 3/26/1968.

www.newspapers.com

 

[HopeRains]

Additional articles:

Article clipped from Nevada State Journal

Clipping found in Nevada State Journal published in Reno, Nevada on 3/19/1968.

www.newspapers.com

Article clipped from The Idaho Statesman

Clipping found in The Idaho Statesman published in Boise, Idaho on 3/7/1968.

www.newspapers.com

 

[Caring1]

Remains found in 1970 in a shallow grave in the desert have been identified as Anna Sylvia Just. Her personal items had been found in the desert in 1968. Her death was ruled as a homicide. More information in the article.

November 7, 2025

According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the belongings of Anna Sylvia Just were found in the desert outside Henderson in 1968.

Police took a missing person report and later discovered that there was already an active missing person report for her from Calgary, Canada.

About two years later, in 1970, remains would be found buried in a shallow grave by kids playing in the desert.

Through genetic genealogy, it was confirmed that the remains found in 1970 belonged to Anna Sylvia Just.

Human remains found near Henderson in 1970 identified as missing woman from Canada

Human remains found in the desert just outside of Henderson in 1968 have been identified.According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the belongin

news3lv.com

 

[Caring1]

Another article with additional information surrounding Anna’s death.

November 7, 2025

During the investigation, reports suggested Just was an acquaintance of Thomas Hanley, the former head of the American Federation of Casino and Gaming Employees and the Gaming and Office Employee Union.

Police said Just had gone to Hanley for money, and it was alleged that he had his associates drive her out to the desert where they murdered her.

https://www.8newsnow.com/crime/dna-helps-identify-womans-remains-found-in-las-vegas-desert-in-1970-she-may-have-been-victim-of-mob-hit/

 

[victoriarobinson642]

Another article with additional information surrounding Anna’s death.

November 7, 2025

During the investigation, reports suggested Just was an acquaintance of Thomas Hanley, the former head of the American Federation of Casino and Gaming Employees and the Gaming and Office Employee Union.

Police said Just had gone to Hanley for money, and it was alleged that he had his associates drive her out to the desert where they murdered her.

https://www.8newsnow.com/crime/dna-helps-identify-womans-remains-found-in-las-vegas-desert-in-1970-she-may-have-been-victim-of-mob-hit/

Hanley is a real rabbit hole! He died while technically incarcerated in 1979, temporarily in Vegas to testify in a racketeering trial, after both him and his son were convicted of murdering another union boss, sixty-year-old Elmer "Al" Bramlet.

Hanley, Thomas, 1916-1979 | UNLV Special Collections Portal

 

[tarabull]

Human remains found near Henderson in 1970 identified as missing woman from Canada

Human remains found in the desert just outside of Henderson in 1968 have been identified.According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the belongin

news3lv.com

 

[dotr]

Human remains found in Las Vegas desert identified as woman killed 50 years ago in possible mob hit

Anna Sylvia Just reportedly borrowed money from a Las Vegas union boss, with known ties to organized crime, prior to her death

www.aol.com

''At the time, police investigating the young woman’s disappearance learned that she was an acquaintance of Thomas Hanley, who had served as the head of the now-defunct American Federation of Casino and Gaming Employees and the Gaming and Office Employee Union.

The remains of Anna Sylvia Just, who disappeared in 1968, were identified this week. The Clark County coroner ruled her death a homicide (NamUs database)
Hanley had ties to the Chicago mob, according to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas' Special Collections and Archives, and had previously been accused of murder.
According to police, Just had asked Hanley for money.''

 

[dotr]

Brad Hunter

HUNTER: Was Calgary woman in cold-case murder killed by Vegas Mob?

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. And that is what the killers of missing Calgary woman Anna Sylvia Just were counting on. Until DNA.

torontosun.com

Nov 10, 2025 rbbm, lengthy article.

''In the 1960s, Las Vegas was a booming, Mob-infested burg, much like the one depicted in Martin Scorsese’s ‘Casino.’ An open city, mobsters from Chicago, Kansas City, New York, and Cleveland dipped their cups into a bottomless punch bowl of corruption.
And one of the underworld’s top money spinners was labour racketeering.''

Mob-connected union boss and convicted killer Thomas Hanley. LVMPD

Hanley and his heroin addict son, Andrew Garamby Hanley, were notorious Vegas killers.

''Somewhere along the way, Anna Sylvia Just crossed paths with Hanley. Cops vaguely said she wanted money from Hanley. Was it a shakedown? Were the two having an affair? Cops stopped short on those details.

In 1968, Just was working as a stenographer in Henderson, Nevada, southeast of Las Vegas. And then she vanished. Her family had earlier reported her missing to police in Calgary on Aug. 17, 1966.

Vegas detectives believe that Just was meeting Hanley to get that money, but instead, Hanley sent a hitter to take care of his woman problem.''

 

[Neverlostakways]

Not sure if anyone has looked at the contrast on this one but;

Anna Just
Age: 29
Disappeared 1966
Height 5.6
Weight 125

Jane Doe 1970 NV
Age 35-60
Est DOD 6-8 mths
Height 5.3-5.5
Weight 135 to 140

I think most people would have overlooked this doe based on the age gap and the date of death estimate. 4 years is a lot longer than 6 to 8 months. This is something to keep in mind while trying to ID these poor Does.

 

[tarabull]

Calgary cold case: Closure for family six decades later Nearly six-decade-old cold case of missing and murdered Calgary woman brings closure for family

 

[dotr]

DNA evidence identifies Calgary woman as decades-old Nevada murder victim

A Calgary woman has been identified as the victim of a homicide near Henderson, Nevada, almost 60 years after she was reported missing.

calgaryherald.com

''Victim’s sister, now 97, ‘been waiting to hear from her’​

''In November 2024, Calgary police located Just’s biological sister, who provided a DNA sample, which was then submitted to local and national databases.''

''Calgary police met with Just’s sister earlier this month, and she knew right away what the visit was about, Gregson said.
Article content
“That’s 50 years that she’s been waiting to hear from her — and right inside the front door is a picture of her sister,” he said.
“She’s 97 years old right now,” he added. “I can’t imagine the kind of shock that would come after this long.”

Nov 12, 2025 #ctvnews #ctvnationalnews #canadiannews
Calgary woman Anna Sylvia Just has been identified as the murder victim in a cold case near Las Vegas. She was reported missing in 1966.

 

[dotr]

Nov. 21, 2025 rbbm

https://www.wvnstv.com/news/crime/las-vegas-mob-duo-tied-to-55-year-old-cold-case-murder/

Thomas Hanley pleaded guilty to the murder of Culinary Union boss Al Bramlet in 1977. (KLAS)

''Early in the Scorsese movie “Casino,” there’s a shot that glides across the Mojave while the narrator, Joe Pesci’s character, casually notes there are a lot of holes out there in the desert outside of Las Vegas, implying there are a lot of bodies buried out there by the mob.

Two of the most prolific killers of that era were not members of the mafia, but they handled dirty deeds for the mob and for many other powerful interests. And now their names have surfaced in connection with the remains of a Canadian woman missing since the late 60s. ''

''But who was Hanley? He’d been a key figure in several Las Vegas labor unions dating back to the 40s, and had tried to unionize casino dealers.

But to homicide detectives, Hanley was a notorious assassin, one half of a murder-for-hire team. His partner was his son, Gramby Hanley. They reportedly carried out contract killings for the mob, casino owners, and union bosses.

“[They] were total cold-blooded killers for money,” the late Metro Homicide detective Dave Hatch said during a 2001 interview. “They were two of the most active contract killers in the western states. They were up for hire as enforcers.”
''The 2001 special, “In The Company of Killers,” can be found in two parts here and here on YouTube''