Body Found in Las Vegas Field Identified as Missing Ohio Teen
Authorities have announced that a body discovered in an open field in 1979 near a busy intersection of the Las Vegas Strip has been identified as a teenager from Ohio who had left home that year in search of her biological father.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has identified the victim as 19-year-old Gwenn Marie Story. For 44 years, she was known only as "Sahara Sue Doe," named after the intersection where she was found.
Advancements in DNA testing led to the identification of Gwenn Marie Story last month, according to police.
The body was discovered on the night of Aug. 14, 1979, by a man walking through a vacant lot near the northern edge of the Las Vegas Strip. The victim had wavy hair and painted red fingernails and toenails.
Today, the intersection where the body was found is dominated by the nearby Strat Hotel, overlooking the Sahara hotel-casino.
Authorities believe the victim had died within 24 hours prior to the discovery, as stated in a database maintained by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
Authorities have announced that a private DNA testing laboratory has helped identify a homicide victim from 1979 as Sahara Sue Doe, a missing Ohio teen. The breakthrough came after Othram, a forensic genealogy analysis company, partnered with investigators to build a comprehensive DNA profile for the victim.
Othram revealed that Sahara Sue Doe was found wearing Levi's jeans and a linen shirt with a tie-up bottom and red floral embroidery with sequins. She also had 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 worn on the right hand.
Sahara Sue Doe's family had reported her missing in 1979 after she left home in Cincinnati in search of her father in California. She was accompanied by two male friends, who later informed the family that they had left her in Las Vegas. Sadly, Sahara Sue Doe's body was discovered in August of that year, but her identity remained a mystery until now.
Police Investigating Death of Gwenn Story near Las Vegas Strip
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Las Vegas police are shifting their focus to two friends of Gwenn Story as they try to determine the circumstances surrounding her death near the Las Vegas Strip. The breakthrough in Story's case comes as a result of advancements in genetic testing, which have led to more identifications and arrests in long-unsolved cases, including missing persons, homicides, and sexual assault cases.
Earlier this year, Othram, a genetic testing company, assisted Nevada State Police in identifying a previously nameless victim who was found in a garment bag in northern Nevada in 1978. The victim, Florence Charleston, had been missing from Ohio. This development occurred less than a year before Story's body was discovered in Las Vegas.
Authorities are urging anyone with information about Gwenn Story or the two males she traveled to Las Vegas with to contact the Las Vegas Homicide Section by phone at 702-828-3521 or by email at [email protected]. Alternatively, individuals can remain anonymous by contacting Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555 or visiting www.crimestoppersofnv.com.
