Toledo family gets closure after remains of daughter, missing since 1998, identified in Tennessee

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WTVG) - A Toledo woman, missing since 1998, has been identified by investigators in Tennessee.

The Knox County Regional Forensic Center (KCRFC) announced Wednesday that a body found near the city of Jellico on the Kentucky/Tennessee border on October 19, 1998 was that of Lori A. Alexander, a 27-year-old that was declared missing from Toledo earlier that month.

The death was ruled a homicide.

She was not identified at the time, but was buried at the Peabody Cemetery in Lafollette.

The case had remained unsolved for nearly twenty years, when KCRFC was contacted by The National Missing and Unidentified Persons system (NamUs), asking to exhume the body for DNA and forensic testing. A dental examination was done in 2019, though no matches were found at the time.

In 2021, the case was reviewed and a set of fingerprints were located and submitted to the FBI.

While initially there was no match, updated technology led to a match in January, which identified Alexander.

According to officials with KCRFC, Alexander’s remains were returned to her family.

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