The woman, whose body was discovered in 1986, was identified by the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department using DNA testing and Investigative Genetic Genealogy.
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department reported that investigators in San Diego had made a significant development in a long-running cold case after definitively identifying a woman’s remains.
According to a news release from the police, investigators were able to positively identify a dead corpse recovered close to campgrounds on the Los Coyotes Indian Reservation in Warner Spring as missing person Claudette Jean Zebolsky Powers by DNA testing and Investigative Genetic Genealogy (IGG).
After her father’s death in September 1984, Powers’ family members claimed to have last spoken to her. At that point, she had been gone for 37 years.
By matching a sample of her hair with profiles found on commercial websites and using census data, obituaries, and other public documents to find any genetic relatives, the Sheriff’s Cold Case Team was able to identify her remains.
An investigation led authorities to Claudette’s daughters, sister, and mother, and a DNA test from the family’s members verified their genetic similarity. The family declared after being informed that they wished to look into how she passed away.
Laura Freese, Claudette’s sister, noted in the announcement that “it’s been really hard on our family.” “Someone is aware of what took place. Anyone who knew her, a neighbor, is aware of what transpired. Please come forward if you knew my sister and are still alive and you know what happened to her. Please, we need a resolution.
The next step, according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, is to piece together what transpired now that Claudette has been located.
According to Sergeant Tim Chandler of the San Diego Sheriff’s Office, “We have to reconstruct her life back in the ’80s.” where she was employed. in which she resided. who she hung out with. She was dating anyone, right?
They have discovered so far in their inquiry that she left her husband and went to San Diego County around 1983 after spending the early 1980s with him in Washington State. She “likely lived in the San Diego or Escondido area” until her murder on or around February 1, 1986, according to police officials, and she probably worked at a restaurant there.
Claudette’s body wasn’t the only one found close to the reservation, though. Police added that the two incidents are “possibly” connected because a second male body was discovered nearby.
“They were the same age, they were dressed similarly — wearing jackets, thermal jackets,” Detective Lisa Brannan of the sheriff’s office told NBC San Diego. “So, while it’s not a place where you generally locate individuals, we believe they may have been together. It’s a very isolated region.
If anyone has information on Claudette’s death that could result in an arrest, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department is willing to pay $1,000. Call the Sheriff’s Homicide Unit at (858) 285-6330 with any information.
