Skeleton found near BoA Stadium in 1996 identified as woman with cryptic past, CMPD says
A skeleton found in 1996 near Bank of America Stadium has finally been identified, and investigators say there is no record of the dead woman ever being in North Carolina.
Police identified Betty Jean Benton through forensic genetic genealogy, according to a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department news release Friday. Her death was ruled a homicide, police said.
Remains found in woods near the stadium on July 18, 1996, were taken to the Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner’s Office, where the victim was determined to be female, police said.
“Despite efforts to identify the victim through conventional means, detectives were unsuccessful,” police said Friday.
First DNA attempt failed, police say
In 2022, police sent the remains to Raleigh for an osteological examination by a forensic anthropologist. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Foundation paid Texas-based Othram Labs to do advanced DNA testing on bones.
Because of the condition of the remains, DNA couldn’t be extracted, police said.
Last year, the Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner’s Office sent more bones to Othram Labs, which obtained a genetic profile, CMPD said. The foundation also paid for that additional testing, according to police.
The victim’s profile was loaded into two consumer genealogy databases, GEDmatch and Family Tree DNA. Both companies cooperate with police, according to CMPD.
The CMPD Cold Case Unit partnered with the Investigative Genetic Genealogy Center at Ramapo College in New Jersey to conduct investigative genetic genealogy research. IGG analysts “quickly identified the victim as Betty Benton,” according to the CMPD statement.
Unknown: Why victim was in Charlotte, NC
Police next contacted Benton family members who said she hadn’t been heard from since the early 1990s. A DNA profile from a family member confirmed the victim was Benton, CMPD said.
Benton was born in Louisiana on Feb. 27, 1954, police said, and spent most of her life in Chicago, Illinois.
“She was reported missing in 1992 and last contacted family members in February 1991, telling them she was in North Carolina,” according to the CMPD statement.
Police have found no record of Benton in North Carolina and are asking the public for help.
Anyone who contacted Benton in North Carolina is asked to speak to a CMPD police detective at 704-432-8477.
As of Friday, the CMPD Cold Case Unit was still working to identify at least nine other homicide victims, whose remains were discovered as far back as 1932.
This story was originally published April 5, 2025 at 10:49 AM with the headline "Skeleton found near BoA Stadium in 1996 identified as woman with cryptic past, CMPD says."