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Thanks to DNA technology the skeletal remains of Patricia Agnes Gildawie were finally identified. Patricia also known as Choubi,  moved with her family to the U.S. from France at just 8 months old. Her family settled in Fairfax, Virginia.

She was last seen in the city of Fairfax on February 8, 1975. She was 17-years-old, at the time she disappeared.

Her family had no answers for 47 years.

Skeletal remains 

Fairfax County Police confirmed in a press release that the remains found in a drainage ditch in 2001 were the missing girl.

 On Sept. 27, 2001, city workers discovered the skeletal remains of a young woman in a ditch behind an apartment building. 

The medical examiner determined the victim had been killed by a gunshot to the head. And she was identified as “likely an African American female in her late teens to early 20’s.” 

Then the case went cold until 2022.

DNA testing reveal answers

With advances in DNA forensics cold case detectives sent DNA samples to Texas-based Othram, Inc.

According to its website, “ Othram operates at the intersection of molecular biology, population genetics, and bioinformatics. Bridging 20th-century population genetics and 21st-century data science, we are the first and only forensic laboratory to vertically integrate a DNA test and human ID solution that can identify victims, find missing persons, and reveal perpetrators of crimes.”

The lab’s report quickly corrected the original medical examiner. And claimed the remains were of a white female. Othram also identified the victim's half-sister, Veronique Duperly.  And she told them about her missing sister.

Cold case heats up

On the day she disappeared Duperly saw her sister driving a white Cadillac Eldorado with a red interior. It belonged to the older man that Gildawie’s was dating.

Duperly also spotted bruises on her younger sister.

"Bruises on her upper arms, her shoulders and the back of her legs," Duperly reported.

"I said, 'Well, why are you so black and blue?' 

She said, 'I fall a lot.'

 I said, 'No, you don’t.'

Police have not been able to identify the boyfriend from 1975. But they know he worked at an upholstery store in Vienna, Virginia.

If anyone has information about the case, please contact Crime Solvers:

•  By Phone - 1-866-411-TIPS (866-411-8477)
•   By Text - Type "FCCS" plus tip to 847411
•   By web - Click HERE

Cold Case Timeline

 February 1975 - Patricia Gildawie goes missing from Fairfax, Virginia.

September 2001- Skeletal remains of murder victim found in Fairfax County.

September 2022- Advances in forensic technology identify the skeletal remains as Patricia Agnes Gildawie.

 Ed O’Carroll, Bureau Commander of Major Crimes and Cyber and Forensics claims the department has not given up on solving the case.

“Identifying this young woman solves a mystery that has been more than 47 years in the making,” O’Carroll said.

"Our community should take comfort in knowing that our detectives never stop working these cases. Advancements in technology have given my Cold Case detectives an opportunity to pursue fresh leads and bring some relief to families that have been long suffering with the unknown," he added.