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COLUMBUS — After nearly five decades, sheriff’s investigators said new DNA evidence has allowed them to catch a break in a 1976 cold case suspected to be a homicide.
Forty-seven years after her remains were first discovered near Sandy Creek on Shell Plant Road in Sheridan on July 17, a former “Jane Doe” has been named as Isolde Deirdre Yockey, according to the Colorado County Sheriff’s Office.
She was 37 at the time of her disappearance.
Even though the victim has been identified, no arrests have been reported and the case is still under investigation, according to a release from deputies.
“The Colorado County Sheriff’s Office is requesting assistance from anyone who might have information regarding this case. Please contact the local Sheriff’s Office, check our Facebook page as well and you may also call Colorado County Crime Stoppers at 866-522-8477(TIPS),” according to a release.
The case took several twists and turns over the decades, investigators said, and at one point it was feared the victim’s file had been lost due to a natural disaster.
Sheriff “Doc “Mueller, Chief Deputy Jim Broussard, Investigator Bill Esterling and Deputy James Brooks initially investigated the case.
At the time, the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office determined the remains belonged to an unknown female whose death was ruled a homicide. Justice of the Peace Precinct 1 Richard Schmidt had requested the autopsy.
After a time, deputies failed to develop any significant leads and it was believed a flood destroyed the initial files on the case in the old county jail’s basement.
In 2003, Colorado County Judge Al Jamison received a letter from the Harris County medical examiner explaining the then-unidentified remains were still in their possession and requested a burial, according to a release from the Sheriff’s Office.
But in September 2003, with the help of old news articles from 1976, sheriff’s Lt. Troy Neisner began investigating this case, created a new file and requested assistance from the Texas Rangers.
According to investigators, the unidentified female remained a Jane Doe and her remains were transferred from Houston to the University of North Texas Forensic Anthropology Department.
As forensic science made new strides, DNA in 2007 was extracted from the remains and submitted to the CODIS database, or Combined DNA Index System. CODIS is a computer software program that searches local, state and national files of DNA profiles from convicted offenders, unsolved crime-scene evidence and missing persons.
But even with this new technology, “there still wasn’t a match and the remains (stayed) at UNT,” according to the sheriff’s release.
In May, sheriff’s investigators met and discussed the case with Sheriff R.H.”Curly” Wied and now-Chief Deputy Neisner.
Given advances in new technology, the law officers decided the case needed a fresh look and Sgt. Justin Lindeman was assigned as lead investigator.
According to the news released, Lindeman hit upon the idea of contacting organizations to create a genetic genealogy profile of the victim.
Investigators used extracted DNA material from the unidentified individual and combined that with traditional genealogy methods to create a family tree.
Not long after, Lindemann received an email from the UNT’s Health and Safety Center stating the remains matched those of Yockey, who had been reported missing in the 1970s.
Lindemann, Sgt. Beth Mayfield and Texas Ranger Cody Rogers then met with Yockey’s sister in Harris County.
The sister and her mother had been looking for Yockey since Christmas 1975, the sibling told investigators.
She also told investigators she had recently attended a missing persons event in April in Harris County, where she provided a DNA sample for comparison.
