Teen was murdered 43 years ago. Washington cops just identified her with DNA testing

Washington police have identified a murder victim after 43 years, officials said.

Multiple Snohomish County agencies and officials worked to identify “Precious Jane Doe,” a woman who was murdered in 1977 by David Roth after she declined to have sex with him, the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office said.

During the investigation in the ‘70s, detectives learned Roth, who confessed to the killing and was sentenced to 26 years in prison, strangled the woman and shot her seven times in the head, police said. Her body was found five days later by people picking blueberries.

The woman was unrecognizable, and for years people thought the woman was 25 to 35 years old when she was killed, the Sheriff’s Office said.

“If Roth knew her name, the secret went with him to the grave,” HeraldNet reported. “Roth died of cancer Aug. 9, 2015 — 38 years to the day (after) he killed the young woman.”

Now, however, the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit, Cold Case Team and the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the woman as Elizabeth “Lisa” Ann Roberts, a 17-year-old girl at the time of death.

Roberts ran away from her home in Roseburg, Oregon, to Everett, Washington, in July 1977, police said. She begged her parents to send money to Everett, but the money was never picked up, according to police.

“Lisa was murdered 15 days after she left home on August 9, 1977, and her body was discovered five days later on August 14, 1977,” the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office said.

Her body was identified after 43 years using SNP DNA and investigative genetic genealogy, police said.

“The DNA used for the identification was obtained from Lisa’s hair using a new scientific technique developed by Dr. Ed Green, a scientist of ancient DNA and paleogenomics,” the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office said. “This new technique, previously thought to be impossible, enables DNA-based forensics from rootless hair and other difficult sources.”

Experts were able to build a family tree from the DNA and to Roberts’ biological parents, police said. They found adoption records from the Oregon Health Authority, which led them to identify Roberts’ body.

“This young girl was precious to me because her moral decision from her proper upbringing cost her her life,” lead Detective Jim Scharf said in a news release. “I knew she had to be precious to her family too, so I had to find them. We needed to give her name back to her and return her remains to her family.”