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California Police Solve 1997 Cold Case To Give Victim Back Her Identity
A body known only as Jane Doe for 26 years has now been identified as Kerry Ann Cummings.
Authorities in California have announced that DNA has solved a mystery dating back more than a quarter of a century by confirming the true identity of remains discovered in Eureka’s Ryan Slough stream.
According to the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO), it was October 1997 when a duck hunter canoeing the waterway found a dismembered female torso and alerted the police.
Although further remains were located on Clam Beach in January 1998, all attempts to work out who the body belonged to were unsuccessful and the case went cold.
However, this was one instance in which the murder itself was solved relatively quickly — because this particular Jane Doe had been targeted by a serial killer who subsequently turned himself in.
A grisly confession
It was November 3rd 1998, and Sheriff Dennis Lewis was on duty at the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Main Station when two men walked in. One of them said he had some evidence for him and, to the lawman’s horror, pulled from his pocket a Ziploc bag containing a severed breast.
