Suffolk County Police Department & FBI Leverage Othram’s Forensic Sequencing Platform to Identify a 2015 Jane Doe

Summary

In March 2015, the skeletal remains of an unidentified individual were discovered by a hiker off of a bicycle path in Setauket, New York. Setauket is a community on the North Shore of Long Island. Investigators responded to the scene where they determined the remains had been there for about a year before the discovery was made. The Suffolk County Police Department transported the remains to the Medical Examiner, where it was determined that the remains were that of a white female who was 5’3” and 5’9” tall with poor dentition. The woman was between the ages of 30 and 50 years old.

At the time of the woman’s discovery, she was wearing a large broken purple hair clip that had come loose, holding together strands of her disheveled brown hair. She had on pink and black flip flops, incongruous with the rest of her attire. A gray and black scarf was draped around her neck, partially hidden by a black overcoat that offered little warmth against the chill. Beneath the coat, she wore a brown shirt layered under a blue sweater vest, and an additional black and purple checkered cloth segment wrapped around her midsection. Her lower half was clad in brown and black sweatpants, complementing a brown and black T-shirt, with knee-high pantyhose.

Details of the case were entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) as UP13776. A composite sketch was developed and released to the public in hopes that it would generate new leads about the woman's identity. Despite extensive efforts by law enforcement investigators to identify the woman, no matches were found, and the case went cold due to a lack of viable leads.

In February 2021, the Suffolk County Police Department, in collaboration with the FBI, submitted forensic evidence to Othram in The Woodlands, Texas in hopes that advanced DNA testing could help to identify the woman. Othram scientists used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to build a comprehensive DNA profile for the woman. After successfully completing the process, the DNA profile was delivered to the FBI's forensic genetic genealogy team and the FBI team performed the necessary work to generate new investigative leads in the case.

Using this new information, a follow-up investigation was conducted leading investigators to potential relatives of the woman, who is now known to be Lucie Van Heeckeren, born July 1953. Van Heeckeren was last known to be in a hospital in Westchester County, New York. While Van Heeckeren’s cause of death could not be determined, foul play has not been ruled out. If you have any information regarding Lucie Van Heeckeren, please contact Lt. Kevin Beyrer with the Suffolk County Police Department by calling 631-852-6000.

The identification of Lucie Van Heeckeren represents the 8th case in the State of New York where officials have publicly identified an individual using technology developed by Othram. Most recently in Queens, New York, Anthony Scalici of Florida was identified and arrested 15 years after the murder of his uncle, Rosario Prestigiacomo.