Skeleton found in wall at Alderly unit: How a tiny act helped identify remains belonging to Tanya Lee Glover

A Sydney woman’s simple decision to select a box that would give police access to DNA uploaded to an ancestral website led to the identification of skeletal remains mysteriously found in a wall of a unit complex in Brisbane .

Queensland Police worked tirelessly to try to identify human remains found on December 7 in the garage of an Alderley block in north Brisbane.

Nine months later, Queensland Police were finally able to confirm that the skeletal remains discovered were those of Tanya Lee Glover, who would have been about 38 years old at the time of her death.

Police claim Ms Glover’s body was disposed of between 2009 and 2010.

But Ms. Glover’s identity may never have been discovered unless Donna Truscott chose not to give police permission to access DNA she uploaded to an ancestral website, GEDMatch, in 2017.

Ms Truscott said she initially decided to take a DNA test with her mother, aunt and sister ‘to give a giggle’ to learn more about her mother’s paternal side.

She said she was also interested in learning more about the paternal side of her father’s family, in an effort to find her grandfather Donald Gordon Buckley, who has been missing since the 1950s.

After reading about a nationwide call for people to submit their DNA to police for a national database, Ms Truscott said she decided to provide her DNA directly to NSW Police as it could help her track down her grandfather to detect.

But when Queensland Police contacted Ms Truscott in June this year, she didn’t expect their reason for calling.

“The officer said, ‘I’m actually calling you in connection with a woman’s body that was found last year under a unit complex in Alderley, Queensland,'” Ms Truscott recalled.

The officer explained to Ms. Truscott that the DNA she uploaded via GEDMatch in 2017 was a match to an unidentified woman found in the Brisbane unit complex.

“Their genealogist was able to see a maternal link, through my mother, my aunt, my sister and I,” Ms Truscott said.

“She’s very distantly related, but there was enough DNA to narrow it down undeniably.”

The breakthrough in discovering Ms Glover’s identity involved the Australian Federal Police’s National DNA Programme.

Brisbane Regional Crime Coordinator Detective Andrew Massingham said in August that the program used a family DNA to match potential relatives with missing persons.

“Due to the familial DNA process, there are certain DNA markers that are used to match what was an unidentified DNA victim of Ms Glover with known DNA profiles of biological relatives,” Chief Inspector Massingham said.

“The AFP can use their skills to identify people within that family tree and refine that search with the help of researchers.”

While Ms. Glover’s identity was a huge step forward, police are still investigating how she died and who may be responsible.

Ms. Glover was not formally known to the Queensland Police and no missing persons report had ever been made in relation to her well-being.

Discovering her identity, Ms. Glover’s parents were subsequently notified of her death by the police.

It is understood that she moved to Queensland from NSW in 2006 and lived in the Fortitude Valley area until 2010.

She was visually and hearing impaired.

No arrests have been made or charges have been filed in connection with her death or disappearance.

Superintendent Massingham said investigators were still trying to determine her cause of death, but there was evidence of trauma.

“This information is very fresh at this stage,” Superintendent Massingham said.

“There were a number of crime scene items in terms of packaging and such that I talked about at the time, they are still the subject of ongoing DNA testing and ongoing forensic work.

“Our priority was to identify our victim and the other times were secondary, but they will be part of the investigation.”

Mrs. Glover is described as white in appearance, between 5 feet 8 inches and 6 feet 8 inches tall, and she had dark brown hair.

As the investigation continues, Ms Truscott said her family was “honored to give Tanya her identity back.”

“I would like to say I think we played an important role in that, but the police have done all the work, they’ve built a huge three-generation family tree of possibly hundreds of people,” Ms Truscott said.

How incredible that for science, for DNA, for unsolved murder victims, the evolution of this is absolutely outstanding.

“It’s a good thing, I don’t regret uploading the DNA.

“You never thought in a million years that your DNA would solve the identity of someone like Tanya.”

Ms. Truscott encouraged others to choose to allow police access to DNA profiles.

“So many people are under the impression sending DNA to these websites that the DNA will be used against you, but that’s not the case,” she said.

“I definitely encourage people who have had DNA testing to go to GEDMatch, there are over 700 unidentified human remains in Australia.

“It is important for these people to return to their families.

“It gives me hope that my grandfather will be found somewhere.”

Ms Truscott said she was confident police would continue to find answers for Ms Glover and her family.

“We understand that in the current times it is important that her face and story remain in the media because the people who killed her left more than a decade ago and thought they could get away with it,” she said.

“We hope she finds peace.”

Chief Inspector Massingham urged anyone who may have known Ms Glover between 2006 and 2010 to contact police.

“This is a single vulnerable woman who led a very carefree lifestyle and for whatever reason has been targeted for an unknown purpose and has been treated in a very appalling way by the way they have hidden and left her body in that area for several years,” he said.

Anyone who has information about anyone who knew or interacted with Ms Glover, particularly from 2006 to 2010, is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online.