Forty-two years after her body was found hanging along a rural highway, a private forensics firm is partnering with the McLean County Sheriff’s Department to try to identify the woman known as McLean County Jane Doe.
The woman was found hanging from a utility pole on Feb. 2, 1982, on Route 136 between LeRoy and Bellflower. Her death was determined to be a suicide. She was believed to have been between 25 and 50 years old. Items collected at the scene — two packs of cigarettes traced to southwest Illinois and southwest Indiana, and keys to a nonexistent New York location — produced no useful information.
The last lead in the case was tracked in 2021 by detective Bryan Hanner based on information that the woman may have been missing from Canada, said Sheriff Matt Lane.
“Through a long, lengthy process we got the DNA profile to the Canadian authorities in Ottawa, and they determined that it was not that missing person. And it just so happens that around that same time, Moxxy contacted us about this particular case and asked if we would be interested in their help,” said Lane.
Moxxy is a Texas company that uses investigative genetic genealogy in its work to identify previously unknown individuals and to help police identify potential suspects using DNA samples from a crime scene.
McLean County Coroner Kathy Yoder’s office is working with the sheriff’s department on the cold case.
The county has signed an agreement with Moxxy for work that will be funded by the company through crowdfunding. Lane said the cost of the testing is about $7,000.
The determination that no foul play was involved in the death has not changed, said Lane.
“We have the timeline. This lady had been hitchhiking. We know exactly where she was throughout the day, the last person to see her alive. It wasn’t but like 15 minutes, until the person found her where she was. There was a very little time lapse there,” said the sheriff.
The private lab will perform tests not available to police through state police crimes labs. The creation of a whole genome sequence from a DNA sample provided by McLean County produces forensic results beyond those available in a database like CODIS, the Combined DNA Index System maintained by the FBI.
Seven solved cases are highlighted on Moxxy’s website, along with 11 current cases, including the McLean County case.
Putting a name to McLean County Jane Doe is important to her family, as well as the sheriff’s department and coroner’s office, said Lane.
“We’d like to identify her and let the family know where her remains are and what happened to her. And just to put them at ease and give them some closure,” said Lane.
