“Our next steps are to try and, find out what indeed happened to her,” he said.
DNA identifies “disco woman” at Porchlight
The Porchlight Project is a nonprofit dedicated to funding new DNA testing and genetic genealogy for cold cases in Ohio. In 2021 it offered to fully fund the effort to identify the Jane Doe found on Lake Erie’s shores.
Sandusky Police Detective Eric Costante sent a tissue sample to Bode Technology, a forensics lab known for its work with the Porchlight Project.
“The dedication and commitment of our partners in the Avon Lake Police Department, the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office, the Erie County Sheriff, and Coroner’s Office, the Sandusky Police Department, Bode, and the Porchlight Project solved this 43-year mystery, and their outstanding teamwork brought closure to the family of Patricia Greenwood nearly five decades later,” says United States Marshal Pete Elliott.
The Bode Forensic Genealogy team was able to extract DNA from the skeletal remains. And built a familial tree to trace Patricia Greenwood’s identity.
