Smith County Sheriff ID’s victim in 39 year-old cold case
SMITH COUNTY, Texas (KETK) – On Tuesday, Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith said through DNA testing, skeletal remains discovered in 1985 had been identified as a 27-year-old from the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Tyler Police identify body from 2004 after enlisting help from DNA Doe Project
The sheriff said the skeletal remains belong to Sindy Gina Crow.
Crow, who was born on Sept. 12 1957, was last in contact with her family in 1984 but was not reported missing, Smith said.
According to the Smith County Sheriff’s Office, the skeletal remains had been 75 feet from I-20 east of Highway 69 for a year or more before they were discovered based on the condition of the bones.
Detective David Turner, who was with the Smith County Sheriff’s Office at the time, was assigned to the case and never stopped trying to identify her.
“I’ve always said before I passed through the gates I wanted to identify her,” Turner said. “Feels good. Thank goodness to the DNA Doe Project. I can’t thank them enough.”
Crow was able to be identified through the sheriff’s office partnership with the DNA Doe Project that works with unidentified remains.
“Our team was able to build the family trees of matching DNA relatives,” Rhonda Kevorkian, with the DNA Doe Project, said. “Common ancestors were found amongst them suggesting that these ancestors were also in the tree of our unidentified person.”
‘Lavender Doe’ killer sentenced to 50 years, pleads guilty to multiple East Texas murders
In November 2023, Turner was contacted by the project about the results of an ancestry search that lead him to Crow’s family members.
Smith said the next step for the case is to have a proper burial and is glad the family can now have closure.
Kevorkian thanked Turner for never giving up on Crow.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KETK.com | FOX51.com.
