A body found 26 years ago on the shore of Puget Island has been identified as a Yakima woman who was never reported missing.
Ramona Lorene Hughes had not been seen since late 1997 to early 1998, according to a Wahkiakum County Coroner's office news release. She was 41 years old then. Her cause of death was drowning, with the manner of death undetermined, the release said.
Hughes "had been in and out of her family's lives and had never been reported missing," it said.
Puget Island is near Cathlamet on the Columbia River.
The Wahkiakum County Coroner's office used DNA and genealogy to identify Puget Island Doe as Hughes. Coroner Dan Bigelow's volunteer team sent DNA from the remains to Gene by Gene, a Texas-based genetics lab that owns the FamilyTree DNA genealogy database.
"Because Ramona had a first cousin once removed and a second cousin who permitted Doe matching at FamilyTree DNA, Ramona's family now has answers to her disappearance," the release said.
Nikki Costa, a former Clark County death investigator, joined Wahkiakum County in 2023 as a volunteer deputy coroner to investigate unidentified persons cases. Costa found an affordable lab that could perform whole genome sequencing and convinced board-certified genealogist Melinde Byrne to volunteer her services as well, according to the release.
It noted that Costa and Byrne are inspired by Dr. Katherine "KT" Taylor, the highly respected Washington state forensic anthropologist who died of metastatic breast cancer in 2021. Among other attributes, Taylor was well-known for her determination to identify human remains and her respect and empathy in working with family and friends of missing and murdered people.
"After finding cousins in the FamilyTree DNA database, Byrne used atDNA and X DNA to triangulate conclusively on a granddaughter of Barbara Katherine Holland of Oregon," it said. "Costa contacted government agencies, verified records and interviewed numerous family members descended from Barbara's 12 children."
Costa met with one of Hughes' children, who provided a family reference DNA sample. The University of North Texas Center for Human Identification developed the initial DNA profile in 2008 and sent that profile to the Washington State Patrol Crime Laboratory for comparison.
Analysis confirmed that Puget Island Doe was Hughes, the release said.
GEDmatch and FamilyTree DNA are the only public genealogical databases that allow users to opt-in to database searches by law enforcement and those working to identify unidentified remains, according to the release. And both allow users to upload their profiles from other companies for free.
"These databases are a powerful tool to help law enforcement, medical examiners and other investigators resolve unidentified person cases and find leads in criminal investigations," it said.
The Wahkiakum coroner's office encourages people to consider uploading their DNA profiles from other direct-to-consumer genealogy companies and opting-in to public searches.
"Doing so can help bring names to the unidentified, provide truth to their families, and help law enforcement bring justice to perpetrators of violent crime," the release said.
Announcement of Puget Island Doe's identity comes a little more than a month after the Yakima Police Department reported that a body found in downtown Yakima on July 25, 1977, was Vereta Jon "Joni" Gates, a 24-year-old East Coast native who hitchhiked throughout the United States. That case also involved use of genetic genealogy and DNA technology.
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