TX - League City, WhtFem Skeletal 52UFTX, 24-34, "Janet Doe", Sept 1991 - Donna Prudhomme

[imstilla.grandma]

The story focuses on the search for Donna Gonsoulin Prudhomme by her sister, who was left to wonder since 1989 what became of her after she fled an abusive marriage and turned up missing. Through the use of genetic genealogy – finding relatives of people whose DNA is the only clue to a crime, whether it be the killer’s or the victim’s, and then doing the detective work to pinpoint the right person through DNA profiles on publicly accessible databases – police identified Prudhomme as the “Janet Doe” whose body was found in 1991 in an abandoned oil field near the Texas Gulf Coast. After detailing the development of the science and the policy debate surrounding its use, the Observer’s story shows how detectives in Galveston County painstakingly traced Doe’s identity to the Prudhomme family in Louisiana and then to its Texas branch. In the end, Prudhomme’s sister and surviving son, along with others in the family, receive the news with the “renewed grief and relief” of finally knowing the truth of her disappearance.
How Genetic Genealogy Gives Victims Peace, Arrest or No | The Crime Report

 

[Melt71]

@imstilla.grandma thank you for posting this. It is a great reminder that many families never forget (and that reconstructions are often not accurate). And the many difficulties LE and others face in identifying unidentified remains.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Investigation sheds new light on decades-old mix up of ‘Killing Fields’ victims’ remains

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Janet Doe has been identified as Donna Prudhomme.

• She was born on April 23, 1957, in Port Arthur, Texas;
• She lived in the Beaumont/Port Arthur, Texas area from 1982 to 1985;
• Around 1986, she moved to Austin, Texas;
• Around 1988, she moved to the Seabrook, Texas area where she lived in several different apartment complexes;
• In 1991, she lived in Nassau Bay, Texas;
• We have no information about her employment;
• It is believed that she was a frequent patron of several of the local bars around Nasa Road 1 in Seabrook, Texas;
• She was last seen in July 1991; and
• She is estimated to have been 34 years of age at the time of her death.

League City Police are asking that anybody who knew or had personal knowledge of either Audrey Cook or Donna Prudhomme around the time of their deaths or has information that will help further the investigation of these cases to please contact the League City Police Department Cold Case tip line at 281-338-8220.
Janet Doe has been identified as Donna Prudhomme.

• She was born on April 23, 1957, in Port Arthur, Texas;
• She lived in the Beaumont/Port Arthur, Texas area from 1982 to 1985;
• Around 1986, she moved to Austin, Texas;
• Around 1988, she moved to the Seabrook, Texas area where she lived in several different apartment complexes;
• In 1991, she lived in Nassau Bay, Texas;
• We have no information about her employment;
• It is believed that she was a frequent patron of several of the local bars around Nasa Road 1 in Seabrook, Texas;
• She was last seen in July 1991; and
• She is estimated to have been 34 years of age at the time of her death.

League City Police are asking that anybody who knew or had personal knowledge of either Audrey Cook or Donna Prudhomme around the time of their deaths or has information that will help further the investigation of these cases to please contact the League City Police Department Cold Case tip line at 281-338-8220.

Audrey Cook - Cold Case #86-216 | The League City Official Website!

Learn about the League City Police Department’s Audrey Cook cold case on this webpage.

www.leaguecitytx.gov