An undated photo Catherine Parker-Johnson
After more than two decades, police have identified a woman who was found dead in Redondo Beach.
Using genetic genealogy, investigators determined that the remains found Aug. 29, 2001, during construction at on the 1600 block of Wollacott Street were those of Catherine Parker-Johnson, Redondo Beach Police Department Lt. Jeff Mendence said Friday in a press release.
The police department’s cold case unit reopened the case in 2019 and partnered with the DNA Doe Project, a nonprofit that uses genetic genealogy to identify unnamed dead people. The group developed a genetic profile of Parker-Johnson using DNA from where she was found dead, Mendence said.
The remains were provisionally identified in March of this year, after a preliminary DNA comparison with two women who were later identified as the victim’s daughter and sister, Mendence said.
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Based on law enforcement and database searches, investigators determined that Parker-Johnson had not been reported missing and that she last had contact with her family in May of 1981. The last record of any contact with her was Aug. 31, 1981, in Lennox.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation on March 27, 2023, forwarded a familial DNA sample that it had collected to the California Department of Justice for comparison with a DNA sample collected at the crime scene. On April 30, the justice department confirmed the DNA match and positively identified Parker-Johnson, Mendence said.
Genetic genealogy is a technique that uses DNA test results and traditional genealogical methods to create family history profiles and determine biological relationships between individuals. It has been increasingly used to solve cold cases, such as that of the "Boy in the Box," Joseph Augustus Zarelli, who was finally identified last year after being found severely beaten and malnourished in a box in Philadelphia in 1957.
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The Redondo Beach Police Department has scheduled a press conference for Monday at 10 a.m. to request help from the public and discuss additional details about Parker-Johnson's killing.
Anyone with information about Parker-Johnson is asked to contact investigators John Skipper or Rick Petersen by calling 310-379-2477, extension 2714, texting 310-937-6675 or emailing janedoe2001@redondo.org.
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