COLD CASE: Richland County Coroner’s Office solves ‘Jane Doe’ mystery after 41 years
COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — A woman who died in Richland County more than 40 years ago had gone unidentified for decades.
Now, the county coroner’s office has provided closure to the family of a missing Wilkesboro, North Carolina woman.
“Jane Doe, as she’s affectionately been called over the years, was a patient at Richland County State Hospital,” said Naida Rutherford, Richland County coroner.
She passed away after an accidental fall at the hospital. The patient, who is said to have been suffering from schizophrenia, was unable to provide her real name. The Jane Doe was buried at the Richland County Cemetery after being unidentified.
“She was exhumed in 1996 when we were becoming aware of DNA technology,” said deputy coroner Dr. Bill Stevens. “A forensic anthropologist from USC was involved in bringing her up. The coroner made that effort during his quest to identify her.”
Recently, forensic genealogy was used to try to trace down relatives of the unknown woman. However, the coroner says this was a difficult investigation due to the almost 4,400 people in the woman’s family tree.
“I talked to Dr.Stevens and I said ‘why don’t we throw this out on Facebook? Want to give it a try?’ He said, ‘Go for it,’” said Allison Peacock, founder of FHD Forensics, which helped with the investigation.
This led to a family in North Carolina recognizing their missing loved one.
“A daughter of Virginia Higgins Ray contacted the Richland County anthropology department stating that she believed we had her mother’s remains,” Rutherford said.
A sister of Virginia Higgins Ray was present at the coroner’s office Tuesday and will claim her remains.
“We never gave up,” said Ray’s sister Carrie Wingler. “I’m so grateful that she was found. I’m sad that she had to go through what she had to go through before she passed away.”
Virginia’s sister still has fond memories of the mother of four.
“She was always smiling, so happy and tiny. She was a very sweet girl and kept her hair neat. She loved her kids dearly and was a very good person,” Wingler concluded.
