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After 33 years, missing woman identified in Bone Lake murder case

Nearly 33 years after her remains were discovered near Bone Lake, investigators identified the 'Bone Lake Jane Doe' as Denise Elaine Sexton Hartley, a 27-year-old mother who disappeared from St. Paul in 1993.
On June 12, 1993, Washington County Sheriff's Office Detective Clayton Evens began the case after a woman's head was discovered near Bone Lake and a foot was found shortly after in the Mississippi River.
The DNA Doe Project, a nonprofit genetic genealogy organization, assisted Evens with identification after DNA sequencing linked Hartley to a second cousin, revealing she had been missing for over 30 years.
News of the identification came as a shock to Hartley's family, who had not seen her in over 30 years, while Evens described the breakthrough as a 'sigh of relief' for the investigation.
Detective Evens is now restarting the investigation to determine who killed Hartley, creating a timeline of her final days and interviewing acquaintances, though he could not discuss specific details of the ongoing probe.

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Duluth News Tribune

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After 33 years, missing woman identified in Bone Lake murder case

BONE LAKE, Minn. — For two years, Washington County Sheriff’s Office Detective Clayton Evens has been working to identify a decapitated human head and a foot from the Bone Lake Jane Doe case of 1993. With new developments in DNA testing, Evens became involved after the DNA Doe Project, a nonprofit genetic genealogy organization, reached out in 2024, saying they were interested in the case if they could raise the money. After the funds were acqui…

10 hours ago·Cherokee County, United States

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