Oregon’s Oldest Cold Case Revived: ‘Oak Grove Jane Doe’ Exhumed for Modern Forensic Breakthrough
Oregon City, OR – Nearly 80 years after a grim discovery in the Willamette River, authorities have exhumed the remains of “Oak Grove Jane Doe,” a victim in what is now recognized as Oregon’s oldest unidentified person case and an unsolved homicide. The exhumation, which took place on Monday, September 23, 2025, at Mountain View Cemetery in Oregon City, marks a significant step forward in a decades-long quest to identify the woman and bring resolution to her violent death.
A Gruesome Discovery in 1946
The case began on April 12, 1946, when three individuals discovered a burlap sack floating in the Willamette River south of Portland. Inside, they found the torso of a woman, an unsettling find that would soon become the focus of intense investigation. Over the subsequent months, more dismembered remains, along with clothing believed to belong to the victim, were recovered from various locations along the river, including near Willamette Falls and the McLoughlin Bridge, and in the Clackamas River. The initial examinations revealed a tragic story: the victim was a white woman, estimated to be between 30 and 50 years old, of petite stature. Investigators determined she had suffered blunt-force trauma to the head, indicating homicide, and that her body had been dismembered before being discarded in the river. Despite the case garnering national attention at the time due to its grisly nature, the woman’s identity remained a mystery.
Decades of Silence: A Case Gone Cold
The investigation into the “Oak Grove Jane Doe” case faced insurmountable obstacles in the 1950s when critical evidence, including the victim’s remains, went missing from law enforcement custody without documentation. This loss effectively stalled any progress for decades, leaving the case in limbo. While the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office reviewed the case again in 2008, the absence of the physical remains made any significant breakthroughs impossible.
A Breakthrough Unearthed
The path to reopening the investigation began recently when personnel from the Oregon State Police’s Human Identification Program discovered records indicating the unidentified woman’s remains had likely been interred at Mountain View Cemetery in Oregon City. This crucial lead, reportedly aided by advancements in digital record-keeping and online genealogical databases such as FindAGrave.com, allowed officials to locate a grave marker bearing the inscription “Unknown Woman 1946.” The discovery provided the necessary impetus to pursue an exhumation and leverage modern forensic capabilities.
Hope Through Advanced Forensics
On Monday, state officials, led by the Oregon State Police Medical Examiner’s Office Human Identification Program and State Forensic Anthropologist Hailey Collord-Stalder, carefully exhumed the degraded remains from their resting place. These remains are now slated for advanced forensic testing, a suite of techniques far beyond what was available in the 1940s. The primary hope lies in forensic genetic genealogy, a powerful tool that has proven instrumental in solving numerous cold cases across the country and within Oregon itself, as seen in the recent identification of Marion Vinetta Nagle McWhorter. This process involves extracting DNA, comparing it to genealogical databases, and building family trees to identify the individual.
Seeking Justice and Dignity for an Unknown Woman
The exhumation represents more than just a forensic endeavor; it is an effort to restore dignity and identity to a woman who has been unknown for nearly 80 years. “Every person deserves the right to identification,” stated Hailey Collord-Stalder. “Despite this case being nearly 80 years old, this is still a case that we would work to get identified.” While the chances of bringing a perpetrator to justice after so many decades may be slim, identifying “Oak Grove Jane Doe” could provide long-awaited closure for potential family members who may have wondered about her fate and offer a measure of peace for the victim herself. This renewed investigation into Oregon’s oldest unidentified person case underscores the persistence of law enforcement and the transformative power of modern science in solving historical mysteries and serving justice. The news surrounding this exhumation is a testament to the ongoing commitment to resolving cold cases in Oregon.
