PHOENIX — Human remains that were found in a Phoenix dumpster 41 years ago were identified on Wednesday as a girl who went missing when she was 14 years old.
The remains were identified as Renee Isabel Nilsson by the DNA Doe Project after the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Officer brought the case to the organization in 2023.
Nilsson was reported missing two weeks before her partial remains were found on June 10, 1984, in a dumpster in an industrial area in Phoenix.
When the remains were found they were believed to belong to a Caucasian girl who was 5’4″ and between 16 to 18 years old. The case was quickly identified as a homicide and the investigation is still ongoing.
How were the human remains found in Phoenix dumpster identified?
Investigative genetic genealogists with the DNA Doe Project worked pro bono to develop a DNA profile for the remains in May 2024.
The team then connected the DNA to two families and from there found a marriage record that showed a man from one family married a girl from the other in 1968.
The investigation hit a snag when that couple’s only daughter, Nilsson, was shown to have been married in 1987 — three years after the remains were found.
However, it was later discovered that someone else had used Nilsson’s identity to get married.
Further DNA testing confirmed that the remains, previously referred to as Del Rey Jane Doe, belonged to Nilsson.
Anyone with information regarding the Nilsson’s death is asked to contact the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office.
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