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After 40 years, Will County 'Jane Doe' has been identified

By FOX 32 News
Published  April 13, 2022 8:50pm CDT
New Lenox
FOX 32 Chicago

After 40 years, Will County 'Jane Doe' is identified

More than four decades after her remains were found in New Lenox, a "Jane Doe" has been identified as Brenda Black, a missing woman from Ohio. New DNA technology helped linked the remains discovered in 1981 to Black's daughter.

NEW LENOX, Ill. - It's been over four decades since a woman's decomposing remains were found in New Lenox.

Thanks to modern DNA technology, she's been identified as Brenda Sue Black — a missing woman from Ohio.

The Will County Coroner's Office hired Othram Incorporated to analyze the DNA evidence last year.

Sketch of Will County 'Jane Doe,' later identified as Brenda Sue Black.

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"Othram is the only lab purpose built to identify victims and perpetrators from evidence left at a crime scene," said Dr. Kristen Mittelman, Chief Business Development Officer at Othram, Inc.

In April 1981, Brenda Sue Black's skeletal remains were found off I-80 near Route 30. She was around 26-years-old at the time of her death.