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The original was posted on /r/unresolvedmysteries by /u/Nearby-Complaint on 2024-01-23 00:16:21+00:00.
Today, the genetic genealogy company Othram announced their identification of Jane Doe B-20, the final Jane Doe attached to the Green River Killer (following the recent identification of 15-year-old Lori Razpotnik last month). Her remains were discovered in 2003 at the bottom of a ravine in the Seattle suburb of Kent, Washington after her killer confessed to her murder and guided investigators to her resting place. Following an analysis of her bones, local anthropologists determined that Jane Doe's remains had lain in the ravine for anywhere between ten and thirty years, though her killer's series of confessions placed her death closer to the thirty year mark.
He did not know her name or any further information about who she was, only suggesting to investigators that the two met on Pacific South Highway shortly before her murder. She was of European descent, between sixteen and twenty-four years old, and had shoulder length light brown hair.
A DNA profile created from Jane Doe's bones received no hits on CODIS, the national DNA database, leading investigators to try and pursue genetic genealogy instead. However, her remains were so degraded that laboratories struggled to get a profile adequate for genealogical research.
In fall 2022, the King's County Sheriff's Office reached out to Othram, known for creating profiles off minuscule amounts of genetic material in hopes that they'd have more success. The scientific team at their lab successfully created a profile, and less than a year later, Jane Doe was tentatively identified as Tammie Liles, age sixteen. The young girl had disappeared from Seattle in the summer of 1983.
This news came as a shock to both investigators and Tammie's family (who have requested privacy), as her remains (apparently incomplete) were already found in Oregon and identified in the late 1980s. In 1988, Tammie was confirmed to be deceased after her dental records matched to those of a different young Jane Doe found near Portland in 1985. Her remains were alongside those of Angela Girdner, also sixteen.
The police strongly believed that the two were likely Green River Killer victims, though he reportedly denied involvement.
Angela's remains were identified in 2009. The two did not know each other and were from different states.
It is unknown how Tammie's remains ended up in two different areas.