Identified! NV - Washoe Co., WhtFem 156UFNV, 25-35, Sheep's Flat Trail, Jul'82 - Mary Edith Silvani

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I'm guessing that they're waiting on DNA results and possibly a genetic tree for the suspect.

I've read that labs are really backed up right now because the technology is so successful everybody wants to use it.
 
bambi_sue said:
I just saw this and came here to see if anyone thought it could be linked! The article says they believe there could be more victims, and these two are from 1977 & 1979...
Click to expand...

The fact that our Jane Doe was shot and the murdered women were strangled makes it somewhat less likely. But there are some missing women in Las Vegas I was wondering about.
 
I know humans like to look for patterns and sometimes we look for ones where there aren't any. I'm guilty of this on many UIDs but this case doesn't seem like a SK to me. In the past I thought that maybe some other UIDs were connected but I'm thinking this is a domestic situation.
 
carbuff said:
I'm guessing that they're waiting on DNA results and possibly a genetic tree for the suspect.

I've read that labs are really backed up right now because the technology is so successful everybody wants to use it.
Click to expand...
For some reason I thought they had already confirmed it via dna & wasn’t releasing it due to criminal investigation. I really wish they would because I’d like to know more about her & all others
My understanding also is she has no immediate family which is sad. I really hope some extended family steps up and purchases at the very least a marker with her name on it
 
crystal72 said:
For some reason I thought they had already confirmed it via dna & wasn’t releasing it due to criminal investigation. I really wish they would because I’d like to know more about her & all others
My understanding also is she has no immediate family which is sad. I really hope some extended family steps up and purchases at the very least a marker with her name on it
Click to expand...

You're right, I was thinking of a different case. My bad. :p
 
crystal72 said:
For some reason I thought they had already confirmed it via dna & wasn’t releasing it due to criminal investigation. I really wish they would because I’d like to know more about her & all others
My understanding also is she has no immediate family which is sad. I really hope some extended family steps up and purchases at the very least a marker with her name on it
Click to expand...

Yes, they have her identified but are withholding an announcement for other reasons. She apparently really did not have a chance in life. It is likely the criminal aspect that is delaying the announcement.
 
*Bump*

Sheep Flats Jane Doe is mentioned in this NY Times article:

"A Jane Doe, found shot to death on a trail in Nevada, finally has a name.

A week before the Golden State Killer arrest, a tiny piece of a bloody shirt was headed to a lab. A month later, Dr. Press, the retired computer programmer, and Colleen Fitzpatrick, a retired 64-year-old rocket scientist, uploaded the genetic file to GEDMatch. They were seeking relatives of an unidentified woman whose body was found on a hiking trail outside Reno, Nev., in 1982.

The pair had been using genetic genealogy to identify bodies for nearly a year through their organization DNA Doe Project. Several changes in 2017 and 2018 had led to a boom, Dr. Press said. DNA sequencing had gotten better and cheaper.

More important, she said, the size of genealogical databases had grown rapidly. In fact, according to a recent study, the DNA of 90 percent of Americans of European descent will soon be identifiable using genetic genealogy. Americans with that background are overrepresented on sites like GEDMatch.

Some believe this levels the playing field. African-Americans are overrepresented in the F.B.I.’s Codis database.

Now, so long as a person’s ancestors have been in the United States for a few generations, Dr. Press and others estimated that a skilled genetic genealogist has at least a 60 percent chance of making an identification.

In the case of the woman on the trail, Dr. Press said she was extremely lucky, spotting a first cousin once removed. Alas, one of the next key matches had been adopted, so they located the cousin’s biological parents. Within a few months, the woman on the trail had a name. It has not been announced, because investigators are now trying to figure out who killed her."

Sooner or Later Your Cousin’s DNA Is Going to Solve a Murder
 
Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam to announce major breakthrough in 37-year-old murder investigation

Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam will host a press conference Tuesday morning to announce a major breakthrough in the 37-year-old investigation into the murder of a woman known only as Sheep’s Flat Jane Doe.

Sheriff Balaam will be joined by members of the Sheriff’s Office Detective Division and Forensic Science Division as well as representatives from the DNADoe Project and Identifinders International, who provided invaluable assistance with this investigation.

What: Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam hosts press conference to discuss breakthrough in the Sheep’s Flat Jane Doe murder investigation

When: 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 7, 2019

Where: Nevada Room, Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, 911 Parr Blvd., Reno

Contact: Bob Harmon: (775) 785-6235
 
CarlK90245 said:
Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam to announce major breakthrough in 37-year-old murder investigation

Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam will host a press conference Tuesday morning to announce a major breakthrough in the 37-year-old investigation into the murder of a woman known only as Sheep’s Flat Jane Doe.

Sheriff Balaam will be joined by members of the Sheriff’s Office Detective Division and Forensic Science Division as well as representatives from the DNADoe Project and Identifinders International, who provided invaluable assistance with this investigation.

What: Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam hosts press conference to discuss breakthrough in the Sheep’s Flat Jane Doe murder investigation

When: 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 7, 2019

Where: Nevada Room, Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, 911 Parr Blvd., Reno

Contact: Bob Harmon: (775) 785-6235
Click to expand...

Announcing her name? Just her name isn’t a major breakthrough now, since they’ve known it for about nine months? Or—name and arrest? Name and suspect who is now deceased? Something else?
 
wary said:
Announcing her name? Just her name isn’t a major breakthrough now, since they’ve known it for about nine months? Or—name and arrest? Name and suspect who is now deceased? Something else?
Click to expand...

I am not able to elaborate beyond what is stated above. We don’t want to step on the Sheriff’s news reveal.
 
Today’s the day. I’d be shocked beyond all imagining if they didn’t announce her name—considering that they’ll have a DNA Doe representative there. The big question—have they found her murderer?
 
Here's an article on the announcement:

Sheriff's spokesman Bob Harmon won't say if they've identified a possible suspect. But he says representatives from the DNA Doe Project and Indentifinders International will join members of the sheriff's forensic science division at the news conference set for 11:30 a.m.

New DNA Information Uncovered in 1982 Murder Near Sheep's Flat
 
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