DNA from tooth helps identify remains found in remote Oregon woods years ago, cops say
Three years after human remains were found in a remote area of Oregon woods, they have been identified, police said.
DNA extracted from a tooth helped identify the body as missing woman Grace Lorna Narvaez-Weaver, Oregon State Police said in a March 7 news release posted to Facebook.
Narvaez-Weaver was last seen at an Olympia post office in July 2019, according to a March 2021 tweet from the Olympia Police Department.
Her remains were found in “an extremely remote, wooded area off a US Forest Service Road, 13 miles east of Sweet Home in Linn County” in April 2020, according to Oregon police.
Law enforcement recovered an “almost-complete skeleton” that had “distinct articles of clothing” but no identification, police said.
After examining the body, officials determined it belonged to a woman who was 30 to 50 years old, according to police.
“The Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office uploaded the case into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System — NamUs,” police said.
The medical examiner’s office also submitted a bone sample, which would be used to develop a DNA profile, according to police.
However, when the profile was uploaded to the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), no matches were found, police said.
The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office created a forensic illustration based on the woman’s physical characteristics, which was used in future news releases as well as the main image attached to the then-unknown woman’s profile on NAMUS website, police said.
Despite Linn County Sheriff’s Office’s efforts, there were no matches or leads in the case, police said.
As the case was close to becoming “cold,” the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office turned to investigative genetic genealogy, according to police.
Genetic genealogy uses DNA testing coupled with “traditional genealogical methods” to create “family history profiles,” according to the Library of Congress. With genealogical DNA testing, researchers can determine if and how people are biologically related.
Police said a sample from the woman’s tooth was sent to Parabon NanoLabs to create a a new DNA profile.
Parabon used DNA Phenotyping to gain more insight into the woman’s predicted characteristics, police said. This report showed the woman was likely of Northern European and African descent.
This information, along with a newly rendered image, was uploaded to the woman’s profile on NamUs, according to police.
Parabon’s investigative genetic genealogy report offered the biggest breakthrough in the case, as it suggested the remains belonged to a woman reported missing out of Washington, Narvaez-Weaver, police said.
Last September, the Linn County Sheriff’s Office contacted Narvaez-Weaver’s family with the possibility that the body found in Oregon could be hers, according to police.
After a family member provided their own DNA sample, it confirmed that the woman was Narvaez-Weaver.
“Grace’s case is an excellent example of how advanced technologies like investigative genetic genealogy (IGG) and phenotyping can be used to help resolve a case before it goes cold,” CeCe Moore, Parabon’s chief genetic genealogist, said in the release.
Police said an investigation into Narvaez-Weaver’s death is ongoing.
This story was originally published March 7, 2023 at 2:50 PM with the headline "DNA from tooth helps identify remains found in remote Oregon woods years ago, cops say."
