Remains found in CA desert 30 years ago just identified, thanks to DNA, officials say
Skeletal remains found in a desert more than three decades ago were just identified as those of a California woman, officials said.
Using forensic genetic genealogy, investigators determined the remains, which were found in Thermal on Jan. 22, 1991, belonged to Kathryn Coffey of Baldwin Park, the Riverside County District Attorney’s office announced in a news release on Tuesday, Aug. 23.
When the remains were found more than 31 years ago, they were discovered “in a wash area at the base of a hill,” the district attorney said.
“Only bones were found and appeared to have been in the desert for a lengthy amount of time,” according to the news release.
Though the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigated the death, which was “believed to be suspicious,” the case went cold, the release said.
But this year, a “forensic genetic genealogy investigation” tentatively identified the remains as Coffey’s, officials said. Then, in June, investigators took DNA from Coffey’s sister and confirmed that the remains were hers, the release said.
Coffey’s family said the last they knew about her whereabouts was that she was “in the Indio area around 1989-1990,” the district attorney said.
“They also told investigators that she graduated in the mid-1970s Phi Beta Kappa from Scripps College with a degree in English literature,” the release said.
Anyone with information is asked to call 951-955-2777.
Thermal is about 140 miles northeast of San Diego.
This story was originally published August 25, 2022 at 12:29 PM with the headline "Remains found in CA desert 30 years ago just identified, thanks to DNA, officials say."
