Little's painting of Pless. Credit: FBI
Forty-six years after her remains were found in Macon, Georgia, genetic genealogy has helped identified Yvonne Pless as one of the 93 victims of the U.S.’s most prolific serial killer, Samuel Little.
Pless was 19 years old when she was allegedly murdered by Little, before he disposed of her remains on a roadway in Macon.
Little was arrested in 2012 in Kentucky on a narcotics charge, but investigators quickly linked his DNA to three unsolved murders in California from 1987 and 1989. All three woman’s bodies were found on the streets of Los Angeles shortly after their murders.
In early 2013, investigators said that Little was being investigated for involvement in three dozen murders committed in the 1980s. Little maintained his innocence for years, even as he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. However, his tune changed in November 2018, when he started to murdering multiple women in Texas. After that, the floodgates opened and he admitted to killing 93 women since 1970, 60 of which have been confirmed.
During his 2018 confessions, Little mentioned murdering two Macon women. As a result, Captain Shermaine Jones of the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office’s and Amy Hutsell of the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council traveled to Wise County, Texas, where Little was being held to confirm that his confessions matched unsolved Macon cold cases.
They both did. One confession matched the circumstances of the murder of Fredonia Smith, who was found in Washington Park in 1982. The other confession matched the unsolved case of “Macon Jane Doe,” but her identity—and thus her living family members—was unknown at the time. The case of Macon Jane Doe was entered into the National Missing and Unidentified System (NamUs) database as UP2126.
In 2022, Jones and Hutsell decided to use forensic genetic genealogy in an attempt to identify Macon Jane Doe. Skeletal remains from the victim were sent to Othram, who developed a suitable DNA extract and used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing to build a comprehensive DNA profile for the unknown woman. Othram's in-house genetic genealogy team then used that profile to develop investigative leads that were returned to law enforcement.
On Thursday, Bibb County Sheriff’s Office’s announced they had identified the victim as Yvonne Pless through remaining family members.
Working with Othram, investigators identified a relative of Pless, who connected them with her remaining family members.
“The family members of Yvonne Pless and Fredonia Smith now have closure concerning their missing or victimized loved one,” said Sheriff David Davis. “I believe with continued dedication, teamwork, and advancement in technology, we can bring that same closure to other awaiting families.”
The most prolific serial killer in U.S. history
Little died in jail in 2020. By that time, at nearly 80 years old, he confessed to killing 93 women. Most of the slayings took place in Florida and Southern California. Eight of his victims were Georgia residents, and the remains of a Tennessee woman were also found in Georgia. Little said he started killing in 1970, on New Year’s Eve in Miami. His last was in 2005, he said, in Tupelo, Mississippi. He also killed people in Tennessee, Texas, Ohio, Kentucky, Nevada, Arkansas and other states.
Little strangled most of his victims, usually soon after meeting them during chance encounters. He targeted people living on the edges of society, such as prostitutes or drug addicts. They were people he believed wouldn’t be looked for and wouldn’t leave much evidence for police. He wasn’t wrong—police around the country initially classified many of the Little’s victims as accidents, drug overdoses or the result of unknown causes. Despite the scope of his crimes, in total, Little was charged with and convicted of eight murders.
Little had drawn detailed portraits of many women he killed. So detailed, in fact, that investigators believe he had a photographic memory, a fact supported by the amount of information he revealed during his confessions.
The paintings can be found on the FBI’s website, where the agency is asking for the public’s help in matching the remaining unconfirmed confessions.