Authorities have identified a woman whose body was found on a California cliff nearly 60 years ago.
The remains were found near the end of a road in Tiburon, California by a hunter on Dec. 18, 1966. Authorities were able to determine that the body was that of a woman between the age of 45 and 60, but could not identify her or determine a cause of death, according to a news release from the forensic genetic genealogy company Othram.
Investigators were able to determine that the woman had been seen at a fire station three months before her body was found. At the station, she told firefighters that she was stranded and had no money for a taxi, according to a newspaper clipping published at the time. She asked if she could sleep at the fire station, but firefighters refused and she walked away.
Another newspaper article published at the time said that the remains were badly decomposed, and that authorities estimated that the body had been on the cliff for several months before it was discovered. No missing persons reports matched the remains, the article said.
The woman became known as “Marin County Jane Doe.” The case was entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, and attempts were made to identify the woman, but no leads panned out.
In 2022, the Marin County Sheriff’s Office submitted forensic evidence from the case to Othram, and scientists at Othram’s Woodlands, Texas lab developed a DNA profile from that evidence. The DNA profile was used in a forensic search which led to relatives of the unidentified woman.
The investigation was able to identify the woman as Dorothy Jean Vaillancourt, nee Williams. Othram did not share any information about Vaillancourt or her surviving family members. She is buried at Mt. Tamalpais Cemetery and Mortuary in San Rafael, California.
Othram said that this is the 56th case in California where officials have publicly identified an individual using the company’s technology.
Kerry Breen is a news editor at CBSNews.com. A graduate of New York University’s Arthur L. Carter School of Journalism, she previously worked at NBC News’ TODAY Digital. She covers current events, breaking news and issues including substance use.
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