Accident – Death – Obituary News :

Teenager Found Dead in Las Vegas Field in 1979 Finally Identified

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A body discovered in an open field in 1979 near what is now a bustling intersection of the Las Vegas Strip has been identified as Gwenn Marie Story, a 19-year-old teenager from Ohio who had left home that year in search of her biological father. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department made this announcement on Tuesday, following advancements in DNA testing.

For 44 years, the unidentified body was known only as “Sahara Sue Doe,” named after the intersection where she was found. A man stumbled upon her body on the night of August 14, 1979, while walking through a vacant lot near the northern edge of the Las Vegas Strip. The victim had wavy hair and distinct red-painted fingernails and toenails.

Today, the Sahara hotel-casino and the imposing Strat Hotel dominate the intersection where the body was discovered. Authorities believe that the young girl had died within 24 hours before her body was found, based on an entry in the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s database.

While the autopsy confirmed that she was a victim of homicide, it wasn’t until last September when the Las Vegas police collaborated with the private DNA testing laboratory, Othram, that her identity was finally revealed. Othram’s forensic genealogy analysis experts successfully built a comprehensive DNA profile for the young woman. This led the authorities to potential relatives who provided DNA samples. The samples confirmed that “Sahara Sue Doe” was, in fact, Gwenn Marie Story, the missing teenager from Ohio.

According to Story’s family, she had left her Cincinnati home in the summer of 1979, embarking on a journey to find her father in California. Accompanied by two male friends, she ventured to Las Vegas, where she tragically lost contact with her family. Curiously, in August of the same year, the two friends returned to Cincinnati without Story and informed her family that they had left her in Las Vegas.

With the identification of Gwenn Marie Story, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has now shifted its focus towards investigating the circumstances surrounding her death and the involvement of the two male friends who left her in Las Vegas.

This breakthrough in Story’s case highlights the significant advancements in genetic testing, which have enabled more identifications and arrests in long-unsolved cases. These advancements have proven crucial in resolving missing persons, homicide investigations, and sexual assault cases. Othram, the DNA testing laboratory, has played a pivotal role in other breakthrough cases as well. Earlier this year, they assisted the Nevada State Police in identifying Florence Charleston, a victim who remained unidentified for 45 years after her heavily decomposed remains were discovered in a garment bag in a remote area of northern Nevada in October 1978. Charleston, like Story, also hailed from Ohio.

The identification of Gwenn Marie Story after 44 years brings closure to her family and offers hope to countless other families still awaiting answers about their missing loved ones.

Rio Yamat, The Associated Press

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