A body found on Puget Island's shores 26 years ago has been identified as Ramona Lorene Hughes.
She was a Yakima woman who had never been reported missing.
Hughes was 41 years old at the time.
She had not been seen since late 1997 or early 1998, according to official documents.
The cause of her death was determined to be drowning, but the manner of her death remains undetermined.
The coroner’s office mentioned that Hughes had been in and out of her family’s life and had never been reported as missing.
Puget Island, where the body was discovered, is near Cathlamet on the Columbia River.
To identify Hughes, the Wahkiakum County Coroner’s office used DNA and genealogy methods.
The volunteer team, led by Coroner Dan Bigelow, sent DNA from the remains to Gene by Gene.
Gene by Gene is a genetics lab based in Texas that operates the FamilyTree DNA database.
With the help of Ramona’s relatives, including her cousin who agreed to DNA testing through FamilyTree DNA, Hughes’ identity was confirmed.
Nikki Costa, who joined Wahkiakum County as a volunteer deputy coroner in 2023, played a crucial role in the identification process.
Costa was a former Clark County death investigator.
So he found an affordable lab for whole genome sequencing and brought in board-certified genealogist Melinde Byrne for her expertise.
Byrne used autosomal DNA (atDNA) and X-DNA to trace Hughes’ lineage and successfully pinpointed a granddaughter of Barbara Katherine Holland from Oregon.
Costa then coordinated with various government agencies, verified records, and interviewed many family members from Barbara’s large family.
A DNA sample from one of Hughes' children and an initial DNA profile from the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification in 2008 were compared with data from the Washington State Patrol Crime Laboratory.
This analysis confirmed that the body found on Puget Island was indeed Ramona Hughes.
The release also emphasized the value of public genealogical databases like GEDmatch and FamilyTree DNA.
These platforms let users choose to participate in searches by law enforcement and other investigators.
This assistance helps to solve cases of unidentified individuals and supports criminal investigations.
The Wahkiakum Coroner’s office encourages people to upload their DNA profiles from other genealogy services and take part in public searches.
Doing so can assist in identifying unknown individuals, providing closure for families, and supporting law enforcement in solving violent crimes.
In another development, DNA evidence has led to the identification of a baby abandoned in a dumpster in 1987, resulting in the arrest of the mother.
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