The name was established only after 32 years: the story of a pregnant woman from the USA who was found dead in 1992 – News

In 1992, the body of a 23-year-old pregnant woman was found in Fort Wayne, Indiana (USA). And only recently, thanks to forensic genetic examination and DNA, it was possible to establish the identity of the deceased.

As CNN reported, the woman’s name was Tabetha Ann Murlin. Her body, wrapped in a blanket, was discovered 32 years ago by a builder who was renovating the house at the time.

Allen County Coroner John Brandenberger said the body was found in a flooded basement with about 12 inches of water. By that time, it had already partially decomposed.

The degree of decomposition of the body indicated that she had died at least a year before 1992, Brandenbeger said.

Investigators were unable to determine Murlin’s cause of death during an autopsy, so she was identified and buried as Mary Jane Doe on May 21, 1992.

At first, the Fort Wayne police investigated the case, but over time it “frozen”. In 2016, the investigation was resumed.

A year later, investigators decided to exhume Murlin’s body to perform a full autopsy, take X-rays of her teeth for forensic odontology and “complete an anthropological examination” and submit the remains’ DNA to the appropriate agencies, Brandenberger said.

University of Indianapolis forensic anthropologist Christa Latham collected DNA samples from Murlin’s left femur and sent them to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification for testing.

Seven months later, the University of Texas released the DNA profile of the deceased, uploading it to the relevant databases, but unfortunately, did not find a single match.

The coroner put Murlin’s degraded DNA samples in storage pending the advent of new technologies.

In 2023, forensic genealogy companies Intermountain Forensics and Ignite DNA performed DNA sequencing. This made it possible to find matches with the DNA of her father and mother, who died in 2013, as well as two of her aunts.

DNA testing confirmed that Robert Bowers was Tabetha Ann Murlin’s father, according to case documents.

Coroner’s Office documents say Angelina Privitt, Murlyn’s aunt, identified her as Tabetha Slane and said she was adopted by another aunt, Norma Slane.

Privitt also claims that the girl married Jerry Murlin in 1987. The marriage was short-lived: the couple separated in 1988, but the man never filed for divorce or reported his wife missing, authorities say.

Although the details of the woman’s death are still unclear, Robert Bowers, the father of the dead girl, confirmed that he last saw his daughter in 1988, and Jerry Murlin last saw his wife in 1989, explained Christopher Miles, chief investigator for the Allen County Coroner’s Office.

We will remind, in Britain, two teenagers were sentenced to 20 years in prison for the murder of a transgender girl.