15-year-old Melody Harrison. Credit: Apache Junction Police Department
The decades-long mystery surrounding the Apache Junction Jane Doe case has finally been resolved with the positive identification of the previously unnamed victim. After relentless efforts by Apache Junction Crime Scene Investigator Stephanie Bourgeois and innovative investigative genetic genealogy techniques deployed by the DNA Doe Project, the once unidentified woman has been identified as Melody Harrison, reported missing from Phoenix.
Harrison's remains were found in a remote area of Apache Junction, sparking a painstaking forensic investigation to determine her identity and return her to her family.
Despite the best efforts of investigators, the case went cold until Investigator Bourgeois learned about the DNA Doe Project’s first identification of a Jane Doe in 2018. She reached out to the non-profit organization for help with Apache Junction Jane Doe, and applied for a grant to help offset the cost of expensive lab work needed to develop a DNA profile.
It would take five years and countless hours of dedicated research by more than a dozen volunteer investigative genetic genealogists to find the critical breakthrough in this case.
The genealogy in this case was complicated by adoptions as well as the fact that Harrison’s ancestry includes relatives of Mexican and African-American descent, both populations that are underrepresented in the databases.
“Complications with adoptions, misattributed parentage, and underrepresented population demographics never deterred DDP’s genealogists from working on this case after five years of research,” said DNA Doe Project researcher Bryan Worters. “Although bittersweet, it is an honor to have played a role in restoring Melody’s identity and giving her family answers.”
Team leaders Cairenn Binder and Harmony Bronson of the DNA Doe Project worked with Bourgeois to communicate with family members of Melody Harrison in order to better understand her relationships and family history.
“The resolution of this case was the result of a determined effort by Officer Stephanie Bourgeois in collaboration with our dedicated team members at DNA Doe Project,” said Binder. “In spite of seemingly impossible challenges, the team kept on until all the puzzle pieces came together.”
The DNA Doe Project is grateful to the groups and individuals who helped solve this case: the Apache Junction Police Department, who entrusted the case to the DNA Doe Project; The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for providing investigative resources; Bode Technology for extraction of DNA and sample prep for whole-genome sequencing; Fulgent Genetics for whole-genome sequencing and bioinformatics; GEDmatch Pro and FTDNA for providing their databases; our generous donors who joined our mission and contributed to this case; and DDP’s dedicated teams of volunteer investigative genetic genealogists who work tirelessly to bring all our Jane and John Does home.
Republished courtesy of DDP.