Authorities to identify victim in 1976 cold case in Grundy County

MORRIS, Ill. — Authorities in Grundy County are preparing to make a major announcement this week in the case of an unidentified woman whose body was found along a road near Seneca, Illinois, in 1976.

Grundy County Coroner John W. Callahan said Tuesday that his office has identified the victim in the 1976 cold case and will release her identity during a news conference in Morris, Illinois, on Thursday afternoon.

Authorities say an investigation began after the unidentified woman’s body was discovered by a farmer in a rural area along U.S. Route 6, near Seneca, on Oct. 2, 1976.

Authorities exhausted their efforts in attempting to identify her and she was given the name Jane Seneca Doe. She was eventually buried in an unmarked grave at the Braceville-Gardner Cemetery on Thanksgiving Day, 1976.

Hoping to utilize modern-day forensic science techniques and technology, the decades-old cold case was reopened in 2017. The unidentified woman’s body was then exhumed on Dec. 18, 2018, and authorities began working to obtain DNA.

Authorities have not yet provided details on the process but said they have successfully identified her.

According to the coroner’s office, Thursday’s press conference will take place at 1 p.m. in the boardroom of the Grundy County Administration Center.

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