(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A young woman whose body was found in a ditch in Grundy County 43 years ago has been unidentified all this time, but some “very significant" progress has been made, the coroner’s office said.
It was Saturday, October 2, 1976, when the body was found near Seneca -- a murdered young woman the coroner's office in Grundy County calls Jane Seneca Doe.
This summer, her DNA was entered into a database by the DNA Doe Project.
And now Brandon Johnson, the deputy chief coroner in Grundy County, has gotten some news.
"Through their work they've located some fourth cousins of our victim. Now they are entering it into some sort of genealogical law enforcement database, which would potentially give access to millions of users that have profiles in the system."
Johnson said by the end of this week he hopes to hear if the DNA Doe Project has located even closer relatives.
This week, Johnson and other officials from Grundy County placed flowers near the site where Jane Seneca Doe's body was found.