In September 1985, a local hunter was tracking a bear he had shot in the woods south of Missoula, MT when he came upon a disturbing sight. On the hillside near Crystal Creek Road, the hunter found human skeletal remains. An initial investigation revealed that the remains belong to a female homicide victim. The case of death was two close range 0.32 caliber bullets to the skull.
The woman is suspected to have been between 20 and 35 years of age and around 5 ft and 100 pounds, at the time of her death. Her hair was described as wavy, thin and brown, although it is speculated that brown color is the result of hair dye. Anthropological analysis suggests that the victim might be of Asian ancestry, potentially Japanese.
The female victim is known in the area as “Jane Doe 3UFMT” and “Christy Crystal Creek” and is one of the three Jane Doe victims of suspected serial killer, Wayne Nance. Nance was killed in 1986 during one of his home invasions so he was never arrested, tried, or convicted of these crimes, but investigators suspect that he is responsible for the homicide. The other two Does were identified through genetic testing nearly 15 years ago, but Christy Crystal Creek has remained the lone, unidentified victim.
The Missoula County Sheriff’s Office is now partnering with Othram to use advanced DNA testing to identify potential relatives of the victim or identifying information that might reveal who she was. This case is logged in NamUs as UP10760.
Anyone with information that could aid the investigation is encouraged to contact the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office at (406) 258-3302.
Republished courtesy of DNASolves/Othram. Photo credit: Othram