Ohio woman’s decayed body discovered in garment bag finally ID’ed after 45 years

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA — A woman’s heavily decomposed body was discovered in a garment bag in a remote area of northern Nevada. Later investigations then found that the woman was an Ohio native.

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In 1978, Florence Charleston, a Cleveland woman, was found in a garment bag heavily decayed near Las Vegas, AP News reported. At the time, forensic investigative technology was not advanced enough to identify the decomposed remains. As a result, the case went cold and the victim nameless for 45 years.

However, on Wednesday, the Nevada State Police Department announced, through DNA testing, that they identified the deceased woman.

Charleston moved to Portland, Oregon, in her late 60s shortly before her death.

Her remains were later found in October 1978 in Imlay, a small Nevada town about two hours north of Reno. Her remains were placed inside a garment bag with women’s clothing, Pershing County Sheriff’s deputies reported.

An autopsy revealed the decomposing remains likely belonged to a middle-aged woman but failed to determine a cause of death.

In spring of 1979, Nevada State Police detectives were called in to help with the probe. They tried digital facial reconstruction and compared dental records with other missing persons or unsolved cases. They investigated the scrapes of clothing for additional clues. But, their efforts were unsuccessful.

Then, last March, they teamed up with Othram Inc., a private laboratory specializing in forensic genealogy analysis that has helped close countless other cold cases nationwide. Othram used DNA taken from the remains “to develop a comprehensive DNA profile for the unidentified woman,” leading investigators to two of Charleston’s nieces still living in Ohio.

Diane Liggitt, one of Charleston’s few surviving relatives, remembered that she was around 18 when she learned from her father that her aunt had left for Oregon with a new boyfriend sometime in the early 1970s. The family never heard from Charleston even after decades passed.

“Was she happy, or not? Was she safe?” Liggitt said. “All these questions I had, and it turns out she was dead.”

Liggitt hoped to learn why her aunt was killed.

The location where she was found also still remained a mystery. She was dead and buried in a shallow grave approximately 535 miles away from her new home in Portland. As a result, the investigation into her death remained ongoing.

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