Identified! TX - Gregg Co, WhtFem 18-28, UP3299, Cleft Lip/Cleft Palate, May'02 Pamela Darlene Young

[Springrain]

Also I don’t see unrepaired cleft-palate on the photo, if Pamela ever had a cleft-palate it looks like it was repared

RSBM
Was just wondering the same thing. I'm super confused. If someone has a cleft palate repaired, would it show up on their skeleton? I don't know how this works.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Pamela Darlene Young, a petite 27-year-old woman from the Blue Ridge Mountains who relocated to Texas and fell out of touch with her family, was never reported missing after her last known sighting in 1998.

Her remains, known only as "Gregg County Jane Doe 2002" for more than 20 years, have finally been identified by the DNA Doe Project and the Gregg County Sheriff’s Office.

In 2013, investigators returned to the case, sending her skull to be scanned for 3D reconstruction, and learned the victim had a cleft palate. In 2019, the sheriff’s office turned to the DNA Doe Project, an all-volunteer group that uses genetic genealogy research techniques to help identify the unidentified.

Using mitochondrial DNA samples, the DNA Doe Project traced her direct maternal line back to a family on the border of Virginia and North Carolina, Kevin Lord, the DNA Doe Project’s director of lab and agency logistics and a team lead on the case, told Fox News Digital.

DNA Doe learned that the family had a daughter who had moved to Texas, and that daughter had a cleft palate.

Remains of Texas woman found dead along Highway 135 ID'd 20 years later by DNA Doe Project

Human remains known only as "Gregg County Jane Doe 2002" for the past two decades have been identified by the DNA Doe Project as belonging to Pamela Darlene Young.

www.foxnews.com

 

[Oakie]

RSBM
Was just wondering the same thing. I'm super confused. If someone has a cleft palate repaired, would it show up on their skeleton? I don't know how this works.

Cleft lips can be repaired (somewhat, there is usually a scar and some deformation) with plastic surgery. Cleft palates can be repaired at an early age, but this isn't always done....

Cleft lip and palate - Treatment

 

[Goecke]

Cleft lip surgery only involves soft tissue, so I'm not sure how they were able to tell that her lip hadn't been repaired based on skeletal remains.
For cleft palate repair, from what I've seeing there's multiple surgeries that can be done. Some involve taking a bone graft and others involve closing the cleft using soft tissue. If she had the type using only soft tissue (which seems to be the most common) I don't think it would show up on her skeleton.

Cleft palate surgical procedures

A list of surgical procedures related to cleft palate and lip repair.

uichildrens.org

 

[victoriarobinson642]

Rest in peace, Pamela.

 

[CCJD]

Also I don’t see unrepaired cleft-palate on the photo, if Pamela ever had a cleft-palate it looks like it was repared

rsbm

It may have been a cleft palate without a cleft lip.

Symptoms​

Usually, a split (cleft) in the lip or palate is immediately identifiable at birth. Cleft lip and cleft palate may appear as:

• A split in the lip and roof of the mouth (palate) that affects one or both sides of the face
• A split in the lip that appears as only a small notch in the lip or extends from the lip through the upper gum and palate into the bottom of the nose
• A split in the roof of the mouth that doesn't affect the appearance of the face
  
  BBM

Cleft lip and cleft palate - Symptoms and causes

www.mayoclinic.org

 

[Samaritan]

East Texas has had a few mysteries solved over the last 10 years. Lori Ruff (Mystery woman), Dana Dodd (Lavender Doe), Kim Casey (Barn Doe 2004), and now this.

Now, if we could get any of the disappearances solved (Brandi Wells, Marc Davis, Megan Garner, Kelly Wilson, Kim Norwood, etc.) I'd be a happy camper.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

The genealogy in this case was extremely complex, and it took almost two years for the experienced volunteers from the DNA Doe Project to narrow down the family tree to identify Young. A DNA sample from her daughter confirmed the identification.

After a case review was conducted by another team from the DNA Doe Project, team members working on Gregg County Jane Doe were able to use the mitochondrial DNA haplogroup to significantly narrow their focus and ultimately identify Young.

“There was a lot of endogamy in the family, which made the case much more difficult,” said Kevin Lord, team co-leader.

“Communications with a few distant DNA relatives gave us crucial information we could not have learned from a paper trail, and we are so grateful for their assistance,” added Megan Street Pasika, team co-leader.

The DNA Doe Project wishes to acknowledge the contributions of the groups and individuals who helped solve this case: the Gregg County Sheriff’s Office, who entrusted the case to the DNA Doe Project; Astrea Forensics for extraction of DNA from a tooth; HudsonAlpha Discovery for sequencing; Kevin Lord of Saber Investigations for bioinformatics; GEDmatch Pro and FTDNA for providing their databases; our generous donors who contributed to this case, including Adept Cosmetics; and DDP’s dedicated teams of volunteer investigative genetic genealogists who work tirelessly to bring victims home.

Extensive Genealogy Work ID's Remains of Woman Found in 2002

Twenty years after her partial skeletal remains were located by construction workers, the Gregg County Sheriff’s Office and the DNA Doe Project have determined that her name was Pamela Darlene Young.

www.forensicmag.com

 

[annemc2]

Has anyone seen any details about the suspect? Like name, relation to victim, anything like that.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Sincere condolences to her family.

 

[coco]

I’d really like to know more about this case..also I know it’s none of my business but I’d like to know how her child/children are doing today and who they grew up with..hope they’re well and happy