The Newton County Indiana Coroner’s Office (NCICO) has positively identified a woman whose body was found along Beaver Creek in the Willow Slough State Fish and Wildlife Area on August 5, 1988, as that of Jennifer Noreen Denton from Joliet, Illinois. The DNA Doe Project (DDP) had been working with NCICO to identify the deceased using genetic genealogy since late 2019.
Denton was born in 1963 and was twenty-four years old when she went missing from her Joliet home. She left behind her one-year-old daughter and all her personal belongings. When she was found, it was determined that Jenifer had been shot at least once in the head. Her body was found along with that of Selease “Tony” Sherrod, who had also been shot at least once and burned. His burned-out van was found about three miles from the scene in Illinois. He was quickly identified but the family of Sherrod was not forth coming with information on Denton. This case is still considered to be open and further investigations are underway into this murder.
After exhausting all leads, the Newton County Indiana Coroner’s Office first reached out to the DNA Doe Project in late 2019. DNA extract was obtained from UNT Center for Human Identification. In March 2020, the DNA was sent to HudsonAlpha Discovery for whole genome sequencing. After data was obtained, bioinformatics work was performed by Kevin Lord of Saber Investigations in Belton, Texas, in May of 2020 to produce a file suitable for upload to genealogical databases. On May 7, 2020, the file was uploaded to GEDmatch. DDP was also given permission by the agency to upload the file to Family Tree DNA (FTDNA). This was completed on June 6, 2020. The top matches were distant cousins which represented both parents. The change in the Terms of Service at GEDmatch effective January 11, 2021, revealed a close relative match which led to the identification.
Republished courtesy of DDP. Photo credit: Newton County Indiana Coroner’s Office (NCICO)