'Most prolific serial killer' believed to have killed 1977 homicide victim whose remains were just identified

GOOSE CREEK, S.C. (TCN) -- Investigators recently identified a homicide victim whose remains were found in 1977, nearly three years after she disappeared.

According to genetic genealogy company Othram Labs, workers clearing brush initially found the partial skeletal remnants near Highway 52. Authorities determined the victim was a Black female anywhere between 20 to 75 years old at the time. Due to the condition of the remains, investigators were unable to determine her weight and hair and eye color, nor could they positively identify her or her cause of death. The victim became known as Berkeley County Jane Doe.

The remains were submitted to the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office in 2020 in an attempt to identify Jane Doe, and officials worked to find a possible match or a close relative. According to Othram, dental records were also looked at, but investigators’ efforts to positively identify Jane Doe were unsuccessful.

The sheriff’s office sent forensic evidence to Othram in July 2022, and the genetic genealogy company built a comprehensive DNA profile and submitted the results to the FBI’s forensic genetic genealogy team. As a result, authorities developed new leads and learned of potential relatives of Jane Doe.

During the investigation, Othram said investigators discovered that serial killer Samuel "Sam" Little admitted to strangling an unnamed woman he had met at a nightclub in North Charleston. Little reportedly said he left her remains along the side of Highway 52. Little, who the FBI called the "nation’s most prolific serial killer," confessed to killing 93 people between 1970 and 2005. He died at 80 years old at a California hospital in December 2020, The Associated Press reports. He was reportedly serving a life sentence at the time.

The sheriff’s office announced Oct. 2 that they positively identified Jane Doe as Leola Bryant, who was 51 years old at the time of her death. She was reported missing to the North Charleston Police Department in March 1974. According to Othram, Bryant was last seen at the Midway Bar, the same place Little claimed to have met his victim before strangling her.