Body of Michigan 'Jane Doe' Strangled and Beaten in 1967 to be Exhumed in Bid for Answers in Cold Case

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has provided a computer generated image of what the victim might have looked like at the time of her death.
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

Local authorities have worked with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on the case.

The remains of a 1967 homicide victim are expected to be taken to a laboratory Wednesday at Michigan State University as investigators review the case, officials said.

The remains from the 53-year-old cold case victim have been lying in an unmarked grave in Ottawa County, Michigan. Now, the county is expected to exhume the body in the hopes of solving the more than half century old case.

Ottawa County Sheriff's Office said it plans to use new DNA technology to try to identify the victim and further the homicide investigation. The body is set to be exhumed on Wednesday.

Cops say that back on October 20, 1967, hunters found the body of a young partially nude Black woman. The woman was never identified other than Jane Doe and an autopsy says she had been strangled and died of blunt force trauma to the head.

Following her burial in an unmarked grave, investigators continued to probe her case but the trail eventually went cold.

In May, the sheriff’s office reportedly began the process of using DNA technology to look for clues and leads in the case and a way to identify the victim. In June, detectives got an order of disinterment from a judge.

Local authorities have since worked with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which has helped provide research assistance.

Ottawa County deputies ask anyone with information about the case to call Silent Observer at 1-877-887-4536.

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