ARLINGTON, Texas — Volunteers who helped identify a woman nearly 40 years after her death hope the outcome encourages more people to share their commercial DNA test results with law enforcement.
The DNA Doe Project and the Smith County Sheriff's Office announced Tuesday they identified remains discovered in 1985 as Sindy Crow, who last lived in Arlington. The woman had been dead at least a year when Texas Department of Transportation mowers found her bones beside Interstate 20, north of Tyler.
It's not clear how Crow died or who could be responsible, but her identification represents a breakthrough some thought unlikely.
"We were all in tears," said Rebecca Somerhalder, an investigative genetic genealogist who worked on Crow's case with the DNA Doe Project. "It was quite a moment."
DNA Doe Project volunteers look for connections between unidentified DNA samples and samples from people who've taken commercial DNA tests through companies like 23andMe. The non-profit's teams can only review data belonging to test-takers who submitted their results to databases like GEDmatch and agreed to share the information with law enforcement.
Many law enforcement agencies do not have the resources to do such work themselves, Somerhalder said.
"Law enforcement agencies across the country - every one I've talked to - have cold cases," she said. "They need the help, so we're trying to do that."
The Smith County Sheriff's Office secured a grant to extract DNA from Crow's remains. In 2021, detective David Turner connected with the DNA Doe Project.
In a turn of luck, one of Sindy Crow's first cousins had submitted their results to GEDmatch. It's not clear, however, if the cousin was looking for Crow or if they volunteered the information for another reason.
It is rare for analysts to find such close matches, Somerhalder said.
"Your common ancestor with a first cousin is your grandparents, so we knew that Doe and this particular person shared grandparents," she said.
In just hours, Somerhalder and the team of volunteers had found the family tree's missing leaf.
Investigators learned that Crow married and had a child months before she died. The daughter, who now lives in Alabama, spent decades listening to theories about her mother's whereabouts.
Some family members believed Crow had enrolled in witness protection.
The daughter also knew her mother by a different name, Gina Ortega Crow, leading to further confusion about the case. Other relatives did not know Crow had married.
Investigators described Crow as a drifter, who'd moved from California to Texas.
Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith said it will be difficult to determine how Crow died, but said he hopes her identification brings some closure to the family. Smith committed to helping provide Sindy Crow a proper burial.
Somerhalder said she hopes success stories like this one prompt others to "opt in" and share their commercial DNA test results with law enforcement.
"I can almost bring myself to tears just thinking about it," Somerhalder said. "When we can bring a Doe home to their parents, it just means everything."