RICHMOND, Ind. — Human remains found in rural Indiana in 1982 have been identified as those of a Wisconsin woman who was 20 when she disappeared more than 40 years ago, authorities said.
The remains are those of Connie Lorraine Christensen, from the Oregon community of Madison, Wisconsin, said Lauren Ogden, chief deputy coroner for the Wayne County Coroner's Office.
Hunters discovered Christensen's then-unidentified remains in December 1982 near Jacksonburg, a rural community about 60 miles (97 kilometers) east of Indianapolis, Ogden said. She had died of a gunshot wound and her murder case remains unsolved.
Christensen was last seen in Nashville, Tenn., in April 1982, when she was believed to be three to four months pregnant, Ogden said. She had left her 1-year-old daughter with relatives while she was away and they reported her missing after she did not return to Wisconsin as planned.
Christensen's remains were stored at the University of Indianapolis' forensic anthropology department when the coroner's office partnered with the DNA Doe Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to identifying cold case victims, in an effort to find them to identify.
After the Indiana State Police forensic laboratory extracted DNA from them, forensic genetic genealogy determined they closely matched the DNA of two of Christensen's relatives, Ogden said.
Coincidentally, at the same time that identification efforts were underway, her family was working to create an accurate family tree using ancestry and genealogy, Ogden said.
“Due to the fact that several of Connie's living relatives had uploaded their DNA to an ancestry website, DNA Doe Project genealogists were able to provide our office with a candidate's name much faster than we expected,” she said.
Ogden said Christensen's now-adult daughter was taken to the location where her mother's remains were found last Tuesday so she could leave flowers there. Authorities also gave her a gold ring set with an opal and two diamonds, which was found with her mother's remains.
Missy Koski, a member of the DNA Doe Project, said in a news release that she is proud of the efforts of the partners who restored “Connie Christensen's name after all this time.”