The remains of a woman, nicknamed 'Jeweled Mom' due to the five pieces of jewelry found with her, have finally been identified as Leona Jean Keller, more than four decades after her 1982 homicide in Loxahatchee, Florida.
A woman who was found dead in 1982 has finally been identified, more than 40 years after her death. The remains were discovered by a real estate agent evaluating land in Loxahatchee, Florida, in December 1982, according to a news release from Othram , a company specializing in genetic genealogy to aid in solving cold case s. Loxahatchee is situated in Palm Beach County, Florida, north of Miami. An investigation revealed that the remains belonged to a White woman aged between 24 and 34.
CBS News affiliate CW34 reported that she was believed to have two or more children. She had sustained a gunshot wound to the head, and the manner of death was determined to be homicide. At the time, investigators generated a DNA profile that was entered into the national database CODIS, but no matches were found. Details of the case were also entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. Five pieces of jewelry were found alongside the remains, described by Othram as 'a silver handcrafted heart-shaped pinky ring, a gold mariner's anchor necklace with an 180-degree twist, a wristwatch, a four marquis cut ring, and a diamond ring with a 14K white gold setting.' When the woman's identity remained elusive, she was nicknamed 'Jeweled Mom.' For decades, the case remained unsolved. In 2021, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office partnered with Othram to utilize advanced DNA testing techniques. Forensic evidence was submitted to Othram's laboratory. Othram scientists extracted DNA from the evidence and employed cutting-edge methods to construct a new DNA profile. Othram's forensic genetic genealogy team then leveraged this profile in a genealogy search, generating fresh leads regarding the woman's identity. Forensic genetic genealogy is a technique aimed at finding a DNA match to a person's relatives, rather than a direct match to the individual. It has proven successful in identifying both victims and perpetrators of crimes. Those genealogy leads were provided to investigators who initiated a follow-up investigation. Investigators conducted interviews with potential relatives and collected a reference DNA sample from one possible relative. This sample was compared with the DNA profile generated by Othram. The process enabled investigators to definitively identify the remains as belonging to Leona Jean Keller. Keller was 37 years old at the time of her death, according to Othram. This marks the 36th case in Florida where Othram has assisted law enforcement in identifying a victim, as stated by the company
Cold Case Homicide DNA Genetic Genealogy Othram
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