|
 |
AG LINK Helps
Identify Skeletal Remains Found in 2008
(COLUMBUS, Ohio) - Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced today
that remains found in Holmes County nearly seven years ago have now
been identified as a missing Toledo woman. The identification was
made possible through Ohio's LINK (Linking Individuals Not Known)
Program, offered by the Ohio Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal
Investigation (BCI) at no cost to police, coroners, and families of
missing individuals.
FBI Forensic Facial Reconstruction
The skeletal remains, found in September 2008 along Township Road 26 in
Holmes County, were identified this week as Cheryl Wilson of
Toledo. Wilson was last seen in Toledo in September 2007.
The LINK Program was established through the Attorney General's Office
in 1999 to help match DNA taken from family members of missing
individuals to DNA from unidentified remains. Samples of DNA
submitted by family members as part of the LINK Program are compared
only to DNA samples of unidentified remains submitted through similar
programs nationwide.
Cheryl Wilson
Authorities submitted DNA from Wilson's then-unidentified remains to
BCI for inclusion in the LINK Program in 2008. In December 2014,
several of Wilson's family members submitted their DNA for testing
after contacting BCI for assistance in locating her. BCI then
coordinated with scientists at the University of North Texas who
conducted mitochondrial DNA testing for comparison with unidentified
DNA in the national database.
"We want Ohioans to know that BCI offers this free service to help
facilitate this highly specialized DNA testing," said Attorney General
DeWine. "I urge anyone with a missing family member to consider
submitting their DNA to BCI for testing as part of the LINK Program
because it could help bring answers."
Wilson's cause of death was ruled undetermined, however an
investigation is currently underway by both the Holmes County Sheriff's
Office and Toledo Police Department.
"We would have never had an identification in this case if not for the
help of the Attorney General's Office and Ohio Bureau of Criminal
Investigation," said Holmes County Sheriff Timothy Zimmerly.
"First and foremost we wanted to get her identified, and now we need to
find out what happened and how she ended up here."
A Montgomery County man whose skeletal remains were found in a Dayton
home in 2014 was also identified this month through the assistance of
the LINK Program.
So far, family members of 140 missing people in Ohio have submitted
their DNA for testing as part of the LINK Program, and law enforcement
and coroners have submitted the DNA of 44 unidentified individuals who
were found deceased.
The identification of Wilson's remains marks the 30th identification
made through Ohio's LINK Program since its inception.
For more information on the LINK Program, residents and law enforcement
can contact BCI at 855-BCI-OHIO (855-224-6446).
|
|
|
|
