Missing Chicago woman identified as Michigan 'Jane Doe' from 1988

Missing Chicago woman identified nearly 40 years after disappearance | ChicagoLIVE

The DNA Doe Project has confirmed remains found in Lake Michigan belong to 71-year-old Dorothy Glanton, who vanished from Chicago in 1987. | A live look at what happened today, what’s happening now, and what’s coming tonight—no script, just real news.

CHICAGO - After nearly four decades, a body found in Lake Michigan has been identified as a missing Chicago woman.

The backstory:

Dorothy Glanton, 71, disappeared on Dec. 9, 1987. Her body was recovered four months later near the shoreline of New Buffalo, Michigan, just north of the Indiana border.

However, investigators couldn’t identify her. They believed she was a white woman in her 40s or 50s.

Dig deeper:

In 2023, Michigan State Police partnered with the DNA Doe Project, which built a genetic family tree from her DNA profile. The team discovered Glanton was African American and in her 70s.

"At first, we thought we were looking for a daughter of Dorothy, based on the expected age of the deceased," said team leader Lisa Needler.

During their research, the team also found an August 1988 newspaper ad from Glanton's relatives pleading for her to come home.

"It said, ‘your mother is ill, lonely & afraid’ and ‘she needs you desperately’," said co-team leader Robin Espensen. "Unfortunately, Dorothy’s body had already been found a few months beforehand."

What we don't know:

It remains unclear how exactly Glanton died.