LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — After 44 long years, Las Vegas police and Othram have identified the body of a cold case victim who was killed in 1979 and has been previously referred to as "Sahara Sue Doe".
According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, on Aug. 14, 1979, a man walking through an open field near Sahara Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard spotted a woman lying in the dirt. Police said this was where the El Rancho Vegas Hotel and Casino previously stood.
When officers arrived, they said the woman was dead. The Clark County Coroner's Office conducted an autopsy and ruled her death as a homicide.
Othram officials said the woman was wearing Levi's jeans and light blue-green button-up linen shirt that had a tie-up bottom and red floral embroidery with sequins. She was also wearing several pieces of jewelry including a white metal chain with a clear plastic heart pendant with a rose painted on it, a white metal chain with a pendant containing a turquoise-colored stone, and a white metal plain ring.
During the course of the investigation, forensic sketches depicting how she may have looked in her lifetime were released to the public. However, no one was able to identify her.
In September 2022, Las Vegas police reached out to Othram to conduct a forensic genetic genealogy investigation. Through leads on the case, detectives were able to identify and contact possible family members who gave DNA samples for comparison. Othram officials said scientists successfully developed a DNA extract and used forensic-grade genome sequencing to build a comprehensive DNA profile for the woman.
"In this case, there was a distant relative, to who this person is now known to be, that had uploaded their DNA to a consumer database," said Michael Vogen, Director of Account Management at Othram.
On Nov. 15, 2023, Las Vegas detectives were notified by Othram who had identified the woman as Gwenn Marie Story.
Cold case investigators state that family members told them Story was 19 whenever she left the Cincinnati, Ohio area to look for her biological father. Family members said she left with two male friends and they returned to Cincinnati in August 1979.
"She was supposed to go to California to find her biological father so she embarked on this trip with these two gentlemen," said Lt. Jason Johansson with LVMPD's homicide unit. "A short time later, we don't know how much time later, those two males returned and said they left her in Las Vegas."
Her family said they never heard from her again.
Lt. Johansson said the case has been reexamined by numerous cold case detectives who tried to go through old missing persons reports. Their only lead came from a composite sketch. A store clerk said he saw a man with Story the night she died.
The case remained unsolved for more than 40 years. However, in 2022, Johansson said new leads came in leading them to possible family members.
"They didn't know if she went on to have a life of her own or anything. You're not given that information then," Johansson said. "It's a very mixed reaction that they had closure, that they knew where she was, but it was not how they wanted to hear that end of the story."
Though no one has been arrested or charged with this crime, this is just the first step toward justice.
"This is kind of the first step in many of those investigations. [It's to] get the name back to the victim, return them to family, and help to provide some closure, and then move on to who did this crime," Vogen said.
Now, for LVMPD, their focus shifts from what happened in Las Vegas to looking for people in Cincinnati who knew Story or anybody who has more information about what happened in 1979.
"We believe that's where the next phase of our case goes," Lt. Johansson said.
The LVMPD Homicide Cold Case Section is investigating this case. Anyone with information about Gwenn Marie Story or the two men she traveled to Las Vegas with are asked to contact the homicide section by phone at 702-828-3521 or by email at homicide@lvmpd.com. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers by phone at 702-385-555 or at crimestoppersofnv.com.
