The oldest and most infamous cold case victim in St. Petersburg, Fla., is finally identified through DNA as Sylvia June Atherton.
More than 53 years after two police officers found a body inside a black steamer trunk in a wooded area behind a restaurant, St. Petersburg, Florida's oldest and most infamous cold case victim has been identified as Sylvia June Atherton, officials said Tuesday.
from the St. Petersburg Police Department. The victim had visible injuries to her head, and had been strangled with a man's"Western-style Bolo tie," police said. The woman was also partially clothed in a pajama top.The victim was buried in a grave marked"Jane Doe" in Memorial Park Cemetery, and her body was eventually exhumed on Feb. 10, 2010, authorities said.
This year, cold case detective Wally Pavelski discovered an original sample of the victim's hair and skin taken during the original autopsy and sent to Othram Labs in Texas. In April, a DNA profile resulted from the sample, and officials said DNA profiles were obtained from her children to confirm her identity.Once Atherton was identified, Pavelski found her children and contacted her daughter, Syllen Gates, of California, who was 9 at the time of her mother's disappearance.
Pavelski determined that Stuart Brown died in 1999 in Las Vegas, but there was no mention of his wife in court records.
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