‘She was practically there waiting for us’: Canadian cold case from 1975 finally cracked
By Noushin Ziafati, CTVNews.ca Writer-Producer
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Toronto, Ontario (CTV Network) — An Ontario cold case from 1975 has finally been cracked thanks to the use of genetic genealogy, or DNA testing designed to find genetic matches and help discover one’s ancestry.
On May 3, 1975, a local farmer discovered the remains of a woman floating in the Nation River near the Highway 417 bridge, south of Casselman, Ont. The unidentified woman was referred to as the “Nation River Lady,” after the body of water she was found in.
For years, attempts by authorities to identify her were unsuccessful and the case went cold.
On Tuesday, the DNA Doe Project (DDP) said the mystery had finally been solved and identified the woman as Lalla Jewell Parchman Langford.
The non-profit organization, which aims to identify people in cold cases and return them to their families and communities, said it was approached by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) in 2019 for help on the case.
The DDP said it developed a DNA profile and uploaded it to two genetic genealogy databases — GEDmatch Pro and Family Tree DNA — in 2020.
By researching matches from these websites and conducting an “extensive search” of available historical records, the organization said its team of volunteer investigative genetic genealogists were able to target Langford as a likely candidate within a few weeks.
“We were incredibly lucky with a couple of elements in this case: we had matches that are fairly closely related to our Nation River Lady and once we got close, we uncovered newspaper articles specifically mentioning Jewell Langford’s disappearance. She was practically there waiting for us to find her,” the non-profit stated in a news release.
“The heartbreaking part is that Jewell’s mother clearly searched for her for years and unfortunately died not knowing what happened to her daughter.”
Efforts to identify the Nation River Lady were renewed as recently as 2017.
At that time, the OPP released a 3D clay facial reconstruction of the woman, who was described as white, 25 to 50 years old, between five-foot-two and five-foot-eight, of average build, and approximately 100 pounds with brown hair that was dyed a reddish blond.
When she was found, her body was wrapped with two pieces of green cloth, and her hands and feet were bound with neckties. Additionally, a piece of cleaning cloth, a black cable and a curtain rod were found with the body.
The OPP are set to hold a media briefing regarding the case Wednesday.
With files from CTV News Ottawa
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