Baltimore County Police Identify 'Woodlawn Jane Doe' In Decades Old Cold Case
WOODLAWN, Md. (WJZ) -- Baltimore County Police were able to identify the body of a woman found in Woodlawn back in the 1970s.
There were few details about the woman who became known as "Woodlawn Jane Doe." in 1975, a young woman went missing from her home in Virginia.
Her body was eventually found near a cemetery in Woodlawn and no one could identify her until now.
"It was finally genetic genealogy that was able to give her her name back," said Teresa Vreeland.
Genetic genealogists at Bode Technology worked with Baltimore County Police and together were able to identify the missing teen as Margaret Fetterolf.
"So we were able to use DNA from her remains that were recovered and did some searches within the genealogy databases to build out family trees and ultimately identify her," Vreeland explained.
Teresa Vreeland is the Director of Forensic Genealogy. She says within the database, they were able to find Margaret's distant relatives and turned the information over to the police.
"So as of right now, we're like I said, we've been in contact with the family to try to find out more about who she was," said Donna Carter.
Donna Carter is with the homicide and missing persons unit and says this is the oldest unidentified murder victim in the county.
"We have great investigators who just don't let these cases go. So they're always being worked," said Carter.
And now knowing her name Carter says they can try to put together a timeline from the day Margaret went missing.
Police are hoping that with this new piece of information, they'll be able to finally solve this case they want to hear from former classmates, friends, or anyone who may recognize Margaret from her photo to give them a call.