Credit: Placer County Sheriff's Office
In January 1985, the remains of an unidentified individual were discovered in Applegate, California. Applegate is an unincorporated community located in Placer County, which is part of the Greater Sacramento metropolitan area. Two local men were hunting near Boole Road in Applegate when, while chasing one of their dogs that had run off into the dense manzanita, they located skeletonized human remains. The men reported their discovery to the Placer County Sheriff’s Office. Placer County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene and collected the remains. Due to the condition of the remains, the cause of death and the identity of the person could not be determined. The remains were sent to the Chico State anthropology lab to assist with determining the identity of the person.
The Chico State anthropology department determined that the remains were that of a female, and a facial reconstruction was created and released to the public. The woman’s remains were compared to missing persons cases throughout the state, but there was never a match. The remains were sent to the California Department of Justice Lab in Richmond in 2005 for DNA analysis and familial comparison. No familial DNA match was made. Despite the extensive work of law enforcement, the woman's identity remained a mystery. Details of the case were entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) as UP6298.
In October 2022, using funding provided by the Roads to Justice (RTJ) program, the California Department of Justice submitted forensic evidence to Othram in The Woodlands, Texas in hopes that advanced DNA testing and forensic genetic genealogy could help generate new leads and identify the woman. Othram scientists successfully developed a DNA extract from the forensic evidence and used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing to build a comprehensive DNA profile for the unknown woman. Othram’s in-house genealogy team used the DNA profile in a forensic genetic genealogy search to produce new investigative leads, which were returned to investigators.
The forensic genetic genealogy research identified a living potential sibling of the unidentified woman who lived in Oregon. Placer County detectives worked with the Woodburn Police Department in Oregon to obtain a reference sample from the potential sibling. The reference sample was sent to the California Department of Justice in Richmond and compared to the DNA from the human remains. A sibling relationship was confirmed, and the unknown woman is now identified as Patricia Ann Rose.
Detectives interviewed the sibling and a child of Rose after her identity was confirmed. Her relatives told detectives that Rose also used the first names "Torrie" and "Patti." Rose also used the last names "Bowden" and "Anderson." Rose went missing from the Sacramento area in approximately 1980. Rose was estranged from her husband, John Bowden, at the time of her disappearance. Her 18-month-old son was found alone in a hotel room where she was staying in Sacramento, and Rose was not heard from again.
The circumstances surrounding her disappearance and death are suspicious, and detectives are seeking the public’s help for any possible information regarding Patricia’s death or disappearance. Please email any information about this case to [email protected].
Republished courtesy of DNASolves/Placer County Sheriff's Office