officials revealed Tuesday that the victim of a murder nearly 40 years old in California was identified by genetic genealogy. Authorities are now hoping to identify the killer of both the woman and another victim found nearby.
Claudette Zebolsky-Powers, 22 years old, was identified as the woman who died near campsites on February 16, 1985.
According to a press release by the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office, authorities also discovered a male victim who was not identified “around the same area and time.” The cause of Powers or the male victim’s death has not been revealed by investigators.
The bodies were discovered at the site of Los Coyotes Indian Reservation, a community unincorporated in north San Diego County.
According to the sheriff’s office, detectives had been unable to identify Powers for years. They spent years reviewing missing person reports and asked the public for assistance in solving the case. Her family spent years wondering what had happened to her since they last heard of her in September 1984 at the time her father died, according to authorities.
The sheriff’s department said that detectives were able to identify Powers after matching DNA from a hair sample with DNA of a relative who was not identified. Investigators searched publicly searchable genealogy sites that allow law enforcement to access their data with the consent of users and also researched census records and death notices to find possible family members.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, this research led detectives to Powers daughters, sister, and mothers. The DNA sample used to confirm Powers’s identity was not provided by anyone. Questions Thursday morning were not answered immediately by the sheriff’s department.
Claudette Powers, a Michigan native, moved to San Diego County in 1983 or 1984.
San Diego County Sheriff’s Dept.
NBC San Diego reported that Powers’ daughters who were toddlers when she disappeared, dispelled the long-held belief of their mothers abandonment.
Laura Freese told the local radio station that Powers’s sister “Claudette” was a loving and caring mother. “She loved her children very much. She loved her family.”
According to a news release, Powers’ case is the seventh instance in which the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office’s homicide unit has used genetic genealogy for investigative purposes to identify remains from an unsolved crime.
The sheriff’s office stated that it only uses investigative genetic genealogy after all other methods are exhausted. Detectives are required to identify themselves and explain the case and process in detail to the relatives they are asking for help from.
The sheriff’s department has identified Powers and is now appealing to the public to help find her killer. They are offering up to $1000 in reward money to anyone who can provide information leading to an arrest.
Tim Chandler, a sergeant at the San Diego Sheriff’s Office, told NBC San Diego that “we have to reconstruct her past life in the ’80s.” “Where she lived. Where she lives. What her friends are. “Is she dating anyone?”
According to the sheriff’s office, Powers left Washington State and moved to San Diego County in 1983 or 1984. She had been living in Washington State with her husband. Authorities believe she lived in San Diego or Escondido until her murder. She may have worked in a nearby restaurant and lived near Fig Street.
The sheriff’s department said that she was born on January 13, 1962 in Coldwater, Michigan.
The hope is to identify the male who was found in Powers.
They were both the same age and they were wearing similar clothing — jackets or thermal jackets,” said Detective Lisa Brannan, of the Sheriff’s Office, to NBC San Diego. “We think they were together, but this is not a place where people are usually found.” It’s in a very remote area.
