Cold case of decayed body found in bag 45 years ago in Nevada ID'ed as missing Portland woman скачать в хорошем качестве

Cold case of decayed body found in bag 45 years ago in Nevada ID'ed as missing Portland woman

Forty-five years after she went missing, a Portland woman has been identified as the victim in a decades-old cold case. The body of Florence Charleston, also known as Dolly, was found in rural Nevada stuffed into a garment bag less than 10 years after she moved to the Rose City. However, her remains were in such bad condition that they were not identified until this year. KATU spoke with Dolly's family and police about the ongoing investigation into her death. READ MORE: katu.com/news/local/decayed-body-found-in-bag-45-years-ago-in-cold-case-idd-as-portland-woman-florence-charleston-homicide-investigation-oregon-cleveland-ohio-nevada-state-police Relatives of Florence Charleston say she was a fun-loving person who was easy to be around. “Every kid should have an aunt like her. We all used to tell stories in our family for years, how much fun she was, growing up with her. We all missed her when she went up to Portland and basically disappeared shortly thereafter,” said Dianne Liggit, Florence Charleston’s niece. Florence was born in 1911 and was happily married until her husband died. “After she lost her husband, she seemed to become a little needy with men,” said Donna Taylor, a granddaughter of Florence. Taylor was still a child when Florence moved from their hometown of Cleveland, Ohio to an apartment building on Southeast Milwaukie Avenue in Portland with her boyfriend. Within just a few years Florence had disappeared. “The guy that she... relocated to Portland with, he had contacted us saying that they had gone to Hawaii to look for a condo to purchase, and when they flew back to the Portland Airport, she ran away from him,” said Taylor. “I really believed that she became homeless and just died on the streets. That is how I coped with it.” Taylor said the last time she ever talked to her grandma was over the phone in 1977. She was a junior in high school. The next year, police in a rural county outside the town of Imlay, Nevada started investigating a brutal death. “In that garment bag were the skeletal remains in addition to what appeared to be female clothing,” said Detective Sean Koester of the Nevada State Police. Koester said investigators tried putting out press releases, even recreating the victim’s face with clay in attempts to draw out information on the remains. Investigators eventually tried DNA tests, but still couldn't determine the identity of the victim. Forty-four years after the remains were found, the agency started to work with the Texas-based company, Othram, to test the remains using a process called forensic-grade genome sequencing. “That allows you to find people who are even remotely related,” said David Mittelman, the CEO at Othram. “It may not be the person that you have over for the holidays, but it will be a genetic relative, maybe a third or fourth cousin.” “The genealogy profile that was processed through those remains and successfully matched to a couple in Ohio,” Det. Koester said. Nevada State Police ended up finding and testing the DNA of Taylor and, in March of 2023, found a 100% familial match between Taylor and the remains found near Imlay, Nevada. “When the detective first contacted me, I thought it was a joke,” Taylor said. There’s still no confirmed cause of death, no arrests in the case, and no named suspects, according to Keoster. He did not identify Dolly’s boyfriend at the time of her move to Portland but said they have questions for him. “She absolutely traveled to Portland with this person, and that person is a person of interest,” he said. For now, her family is just waiting for the day to bring Dolly home. “When everything is over and done with, I'm going to bring Dolly back to Cleveland. for a proper burial,” Taylor said. “I need her back, you know? She's been in limbo all this time. I will put her in the cemetery with her son, my dad.” _______________ Stay up to date with our social media: KATU on Facebook:   / katunews   KATU on Twitter:   / katunews   Subscribe to KATU on YouTube:    / @katunews   Daily News Playlist:    • KATU Daily News Playlist   For more information, visit https://katu.com/ Have a news tip? Send it directly to us: Email us: [email protected] Call the Newsroom: 503.231.4222 KATU is a OR based station and a ABC Television affiliate owned and operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group. Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. is one of the largest and most diversified television broadcasting companies in the country today. #news #KATU #coldcase #Portland #oregon #nevada #ohio