Lake County homicide victim from 1979 ID’d as Carson woman

Skeletal remains of a 1979 Lake County homicide victim were identified last month as a Southern California woman, investigators announced Thursday.

Wanda Lee Brewer’s body was discovered Sept. 18, 1979, and were unidentified until last month, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

Officials didn’t say if they identified how she died.

A couple found the Carson woman while hunting near Highway 175 along the border of Lake and Mendocino counties.

An investigation went cold until March 2023, officials said, when the California Department of Justice suggested working with a private DNA lab, Othram.

In January, investigators found a potential match for a living relative but were still unable to identify the remains.

A second relative was identified in March.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, the relative explained their grandmother had two sisters and one of them disappeared in the 1970s.

Information from both interviews led investigators to more relatives and additional DNA testing.

Brewer was identified last month and the investigation into her death is ongoing.

It continues a recent trend of DNA technology helping local investigators identify human remains following decades of investigation.

Late last month, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office announced investigators identified a skull found more than 20 years ago near Monte Rio.

The remains of Jeffrey Thomas Rupen were discovered Feb. 15, 2001, and it appeared he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Earlier this month, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office announced DNA testing led to the identification of Lillian Marie Cardenas.

A hiker found her decomposed body Feb. 3, 1967. She was at the bottom of a cliff near Highway 1, 6 miles north of Jenner.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi