In the 80's a woman was found dead in a wooded area in Orlando, Florida. It took years to identify the then Julie Doe.

After more than 36 years, a non-profit has identified the remains if a Kentucky trans woman who was murdered in Florida, according to a press release from the organization.

The DNA Doe Project (DDP) is a volunteer-driven non-profit organization with the mission to identify John and Jane Does and return them to their families and communities. They use investigative genealogy and work with local law enforcement to help identify people.

On September 25, 1988 a passerby looking for cypress wood to build lawn furniture discovered the body of a woman in a wooded area in the vicinity of Hwy 474 west of Orlando, Florida.

Authorities at the time suspected she had been sexually assaulted and murdered. 

Her initial autopsy in 1988 discovered she had healed fractures of her cheekbone and nose, along with a rib. She also had breast implants dated from before 1985. 

The original autopsy showed the woman as being a cisgender woman but it was later discovered she was a trans woman.

In 2019, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office reached out to DDP to try using investigative genetic genealogy to help identify the Julie Doe. They connected with volunteers who were also part of an initiative called the Trans Doe Task Force, who began the work on the case before leaving to focus full time on that group. 

“The team faced just about every possible hurdle, from unknown parentage, matches who were adopted, to endogamy,” team co-leader Eric Hendershott said. “Even up to the end, when we suspected that she was adopted, the team was stuck.”

Adoption records are not accessible to genetic genealogists. Adoption can also stall an investigation because the child is often removed from their community of birth and their name is changed. 

DDP discovered Julie Doe was adopted when she was 5-years-old.

“It was clear from the start that our Doe had strong family ties to Kentucky, but we didn't know for sure if she was born there or if she ever lived there,” investigative genetic genealogist Lance Daly said. “While searching Fayette County records, we discovered the names of two key relatives who were crucial to unraveling the mystery.”

After more than 36 years, Pamela Leigh Walton had finally been identified.

Walton grew up with her adopted family in Kentucky and officially changed her name before she was in her mid-20s, according to DDP. They say her name change likely happened around the same time she underwent gender affirmation surgery and hormone therapy.

“Pamela’s story includes many common themes that trans people face,” Executive Director of Media and Communications Pam Lauritzen said. “From derogatory notations left in high school yearbooks about her to a headstone pre-carved with her former male name, it’s heartbreaking to know that the community was not willing to accept her and the identity she chose.”

Walton's story was featured in a handful of publications but in the end it was genealogy research that resolved the case.

“Pamela Walton’s identification is the result of over five years of work by nearly 50 volunteers,” investigative genetic genealogist Emily Bill said. “Their efforts laid the foundation for a series of recent discoveries that finally led us to her name.”

To date, DDP says they have helped resolve more than 130 cases of unidentified human remains. 

For more about DDP's work, you can visit their website.