Authorities have positively identified bone remains discovered in Tennessee nearly four decades ago as those of a missing Indiana teenager. Now, they are attempting to determine how the girl ended herself thousands of miles away from her family.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation stated in a press statement that on April 3, 1985, investigators discovered the remains of a White female between the ages of 10 and 15 in Campbell County. When officials were unable to identify her, they began referring to her as “Baby Girl.”
The University of North Texas Center for Human Identification (UNTCHI) was able to positively identify Tracy Sue Walker’s remains, who went missing in 1978 from Lafayette, Indiana, earlier this week.
Tracy Sue Walker, of Lafayette, Indiana, disappeared in 1978. Authorities positively confirmed the human remains unearthed in Tennessee more than three decades ago as those of the child. Bureau of Investigation, Tennessee
“Now, TBI Special Agents hope the public may give information that could help uncover the circumstances surrounding Tracy Sue Walker’s death and how she ended up in Campbell County,” said investigators.
Authorities identified the bones using forensic genetic genealogy testing, which in recent years has assisted in the resolution of other cold cases.
Investigators reported that a DNA profile was developed and entered into the Combined DNA Index System and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System in 2007, more than two decades after the remains were discovered.
The case was reopened in 2013, and the remains were submitted to Othram, a private laboratory for forensic genetic genealogy testing, earlier this year. According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, in June the lab found a possible relative of the child living in Indiana.
Investigators contacted family relatives, who confirmed the disappearance of a family member in 1978. The relatives, who may have been the kids’ siblings, provided DNA samples, allowing the UNTCHI to positively identify the girls this week.
Anyone with information regarding Walker’s death or who she may have been with before to her death is urged to contact 1-800-TBI-FIND.