Summary
In December 1990, a couple walking on a rural road in Southwest Missouri discovered the decomposed remains of a young woman. She had been hog-tied and dumped next to an abandoned farmhouse. The homicide victim eventually became known as "Grace Doe".
Her autopsy revealed that she had been sexually assaulted and murdered approximately two months prior to her discovery. Grace Doe was found restrained with six different types of bindings: nylon and lead ropes, coaxial and telephone cables, paracord, and clothesline. Investigators determined that the paracord was military grade MIL-C-5040H type II - a rope that was exclusively sold to the military in the 1990’s. For 30 years, she remained McDonald County’s only unidentified persons case.
From then to present, the Sheriff’s Office has had calls from people from coast to coast with ideas on who “Grace” might be. The Sheriff’s Office followed up on all leads and used dental records and DNA testing to exclude possible matches from all over the country. In 2020, the McDonald County Sheriff’s Office has partnered with Othram to use advanced DNA testing and forensic genealogy to establish an identification of, or to find the closest living relatives to the decedent. Funds to support the case were raised on the DNASolves Crowdfunding platform. Additionally, thanks to generous gifts from donors who support experiential learning opportunities for Southeast Missouri State University students, the University Foundation contributed a substantial amount of the funding.
The anthropological analyses provided by SEMO anthropology students under the supervision of Dr. Jennifer Bengtson contributed valuable new information to help move the investigation forward. Students learned about records research by searching missing persons databases for people who matched the updated biological profile they developed, and they got to learn about specialized microscopic analysis thanks to a collaboration with Dr. Amy Michael of UNH.
In Jan 2021 the Sheriff’s Office received information from Othram Inc. that there were candidate relatives identified for Grace Doe. These candidates were identified through genealogy research performed by Othram's in-house research team. Othram asked the Sheriff’s Office to contact candidate relatives and investigators made contact with Danielle Pixler who was on the genealogical tree developed by Othram. During the conversation, Ms. Pixler stated that she had a half-sister, Shawna Garber, that had been in foster care in Garnett, Kansas and then went back into state care. Danielle did not know what happened with Shawna after she left foster care. After Shawna left foster care, Danielle stated that she had been looking for Shawna for over 28 years.
Danielle agreed to contribute a DNA sample and the Topeka Kansas Police Department agreed to take the swab and send it to Lt. Hall. The DNA sample was then forwarded to Othram for testing using a rapid familial test called KinSNP™. Grace has been identified as Shawna Beth Garber. Anyone with information that could aid the investigation into what might have happened to her is encouraged to contact the McDonald County Sheriff’s Office at (417) 223-4319.
December 1990
2009
September 2020
January 2021
March 2021
December 1990
2009
September 2020
January 2021
March 2021
About Othram Inc.
Othram is the world’s first private DNA laboratory built specifically to apply the power of modern parallel sequencing to forensic evidence. Othram’s scientists are experts at recovery, enrichment, and analysis of human DNA from trace quantities of degraded or contaminated materials. Founded in 2018, and located in The Woodlands, Texas, our team works with academic researchers, forensic scientists, medical examiners, and law enforcement agencies to achieve results when other approaches have failed. Follow Othram on Twitter @OthramTech or visit Othram.com to learn how we can help you with your case. With dnasolves.com anyone can make a difference and help solve the next cold case.