The DNA Doe Project (DDP), collaborating with the Kent County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO), has identified skeletonized remains discovered by a maintenance worker in 1997 at a roadside park in Ada, Michigan, as those of Stephanie Renee Judson. DDP used investigative genetic genealogy to identify the woman who had only been known as Ada Bones Jane Doe 1997 for 25 years.
Judson, born in 1966 in Benton Harbor, had been living in Grand Rapids since 1980. Her death was ruled a homicide and it is believed she died more than a year before her remains were discovered. She was in her early 30’s at the time of her death.
The Kent County Sheriff’s Office contacted DDP in 2020 to attempt to create a DNA profile from Judson’s bones. Initial lab work failed to produce a workable DNA sample, but in April 2021 samples were combined and enriched at HudsonAlpha Discovery Labs, and a successful DNA profile was obtained. After uploading this profile to GEDmatch, it took DNA Doe Project’s volunteer genealogists only a week to come up with a likely candidate. The identity of the Jane Doe was confirmed with a buccal swab from a family member.
“We were fortunate in this case we had some decent matches. Stephanie’s top match ended up being a second cousin," said team leader Eric Hendershott.
Once the top match was identified, the team built family trees to make their way to the right branch of the family. Hendershott explained, “The team pretty quickly narrowed things down to a particular county in Mississippi. From there, we were able to tie together some descendants of common ancestors who relocated to Benton Harbor, MI. We then were able to identify Stephanie as a potential candidate.”
DNA Doe Project wishes to acknowledge the contributions of those groups and individuals who helped solve this case: Detective Dustin Cook; Astrea Labs for DNA extraction from bone; HudsonAlpha Discovery Labs for enrichment and whole genome sequencing; Kevin Lord of Saber Investigations for bioinformatics; GEDmatch for providing their database; our generous donors; and our extraordinary team of DDP investigative genetic genealogists.
Republished courtesy of DDP. Photo: Clay model of the now-identified Stephanie Renee Judson. Credit: Trooper Sarah Krebs-MSP