Arizona detectives are seeking tips from the public more than four decades after a 25-year-old heiress was found shot to death near the Hoover Dam on the border between Nevada and Arizona. 

It’s been 45 years since the body of Marion Berry Ouma was found on an embankment near the highway, but no arrests have been made. Ouma inherited $40 million after her grandfather, Yellow Page founder Loren Berry, died, said the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigation Unit, the agency investigating the cold case. The sheriff’s office said Berry was worth $500 million and one of his grandsons pegged the company’s value at almost $1 billion when it was sold.

Authorities found Ouma’s body on Jan. 3, 1979. They believed she had been dead for less than 12 hours, said the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office. An autopsy revealed that the victim had been shot in the head and abdomen with a .38 caliber weapon, but investigators didn’t know her identity at the time. 

More than two years later detectives were notified by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department that a private investigator from Ohio had possibly identified the victim, the sheriff’s office said. The investigator showed a photo to detectives and the similarities were striking.  

Detectives contacted Ouma’s mother and stepfather, Elizabeth and Robert Gray, who identified the body. The identity was confirmed later with dental records and fingerprints. CBS News has contacted the Dayton Police Department and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department for more information. 

Her parents told detectives that Ouma had gotten married in Africa, where she lived for a few years working as a physical education teacher. Authorities didn’t provide clarification on whether the husband was a suspect or if he returned to the United States with Ouma. (Gray is Berry’s daughter and sits on the family foundation’s board.)

Detectives traveled to Las Vegas to conduct interviews and spoke with a bank employee who said Ouma had come into the bank on Nov. 28 and Dec. 13 to withdraw money from her savings account in Ohio. They then went to her home at Sierra Vista Apartments in Las Vegas, where the landlord told detectives she rented an apartment in November 1978 after arriving in a taxi with her belongings. A month later she was asked to vacate the apartment due to nonpayment of rent, the sheriff’s office said. 

Detectives described Ouma wearing green sweatpants and a dark blue short-sleeve blouse at the time of her death. She was around 5’5″ and weighed 106 pounds and often wore her hair in a ponytail. Detectives said they are also looking for leads on a 1976-1977 powder blue Chevrolet Blazer or Ford Bronco seen in the area on the evening of the murder. 

Forensic technology is breathing new life into a decades-old cold case in Riverside County, California and now investigators hope the public will help them finally solve it.

The Riverside County District Attorney's Bureau of Investigations released pictures Tuesday morning of the victim, Jacqueline Danette Ebel. The 25-year-old was reported missing from the Long Beach area two days before Christmas in 1988.

Her body was found three days later near 330 E. 4th Street in Perris. For decades police were unable to identify the victim and the case remained unsolved. Then in 2022, the Riverside County Cold Case Team conducted Forensic Genetic Genealogy, leading to the victim's name.

Before her death, Ebel lived in the Long Beach and Bellflower areas. She was known as "Jackie" to her family and friends, investigators say. She also went by the last names "Yonkers" and "Palmer." Ebel had a tattoo of a horse and flower on her right shoulder blade, tattoos of "John" and a Harley Davidson eagle on her left shoulder blade, and a rose and "Stoney" on her lower abdomen.

"It is our greatest desire to grant dignity and justice this victim and her family," Senior DA Investigator Ebony Caviness said in a statement.

Forensic genetic genealogy has gained traction in recent years, helping crack some high-profile cold cases including the Golden State Killer, a serial killer and rapist who terrorized California for years. Thanks to DNA-matching information, investigators identified Joseph James DeAngelo as the Golden State Killer, arresting him in 2018 near Sacramento.  

The Riverside County Regional Cold Case Homicide Team is asking anyone who thinks they might have information about Ebel's death to call the Cold Case Hotline at (951) 955-5567 or email coldcaseunit@rivcoda.org.

Around 1,000 Jews from across the world will gather in Philadelphia from Aug. 18-22 for the 44th International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies.

Attendees from Israel to Argentina with all levels of genealogic experience will receive and share guidance on the tools, pitfalls and meaning of Jewish genealogy research.

The conference will feature 175 presentations, meetings, workshops and activities relating to Jewish genealogy. Attendees looking for resources and tips will have access to advanced research tools and the foremost experts in Jewish genealogical research.

Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History keynote speaker and renowned cookbook author Joan Nathan will be interviewed by Jewish genealogist Randy Schoenberg during the opening session on Aug. 18.

Nathan is known for her extensive research, storytelling and, of course, her recipes. “I hope people will bring their recipes with them and, if they want to find out more about their family, we can do it from there,” Nathan said.

For Nathan, food tells a story and connects people to tradition. Her books are filled with the stories of people, the ingredients and methods in a recipe that tell a story about the people behind it, how they lived and what ingredients were available.

Her latest book, “My Life in Recipes,” uses recipes to reflect on her life, family history and her quest to discover worldwide Jewish cuisine.“It gives people more strength to know that not just the language … but a recipe also has been carried down from generation to generation,” Nathan said.

Most of the conference will take place at the Sheraton Downtown, but attendees will also visit Jewish historic sites around Philadelphia and the Weitzman.

While many genealogy services offer documents and DNA analysis, there are some unique challenges to researching genealogy as a Jew, according to Jennifer Mendelsohn, a genealogist specializing in helping Eastern European Jewish families reclaim their history.

According to Mendelsohn, one of the unique challenges is tied to DNA. Because Ashkenazi Jews were largely endogamous, meaning they only married others within their community for a long time, having the same common ancestor may not yield as much information. “The first DNA test results made no sense. I just got incredibly frustrated,” Mendelson said.

Mendelsohn now uses her platform and a Facebook group with more than 13,000 members to help others decipher DNA results and highlight meaningful matches. She also co-founded the DNA reunion project, now called the Holocaust Reunion Project.

You can read more at: http://www.jewishexponent.com/philadelphia-to-host-major-jewish-genealogy-conference/.

Culture Healing Communities, a social enterprise in Durham that works with community heritage has just released a website about the Black Troops during the WW2 in the North, with the support from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Working with ethnic minorities for several years, the research about the Black Troops in the North, has revealed many hidden memories from local people, culminating in a release of a website https://unforgettableww2blackheroes.co.uk/.

There will be a second part, which is still under preparation, regarding the Commonwealth Black Troops, including the Caribbean, Africa and India, who came to support the war effort during the Second World War.

This project focused on areas in Yorkshire, Newcastle, Gateshead, Durham, Sunderland, North and South Tyne, and all the surrounding areas, and aims to create awareness about the importance of the Black troops to local history and heritage, whilst bringing faces, names and memories to be visible to the public and to educate present and future generations.

This is a vital project, that was never done before and the content that is already visible has been receiving several compliments from academics and organisations involved in history and ethnic minorities.

The case of unidentified human remains found in a remote Ontario location has now been solved.

A hiker found the human remains on a cliff overlooking Montreal River Harbour, approximately an hour north of Sault Ste. Marie, on July 30, 2017, OPP said in a press release on Tuesday.

The investigation included an extensive search of the area. Clothing items, a firearm, coins and a cardboard box were located at the scene and examined, OPP said.

The man was carrying Canadian currency. It is unknown how he got to the location, but it is believed he may have taken a bus, walked or hitchhiked along the Trans-Canada Highway sometime between the spring or fall of 2016, police said.

Ontario Forensic Pathology Service determined the man was approximately 45 to 65 years old. Foul play was not suspected in his death.

Police couldn’t identify the man and released a re-enactment video on social media hoping to solve the case.

In April 2022, police submitted the man’s DNA to the DNA Doe Project for investigative genetic genealogy use in an attempt to identify him.

In September 2023, the presumptive identity was verified and used by detectives to locate living family members, OPP said.

A family member’s DNA was used to confirm the man’s identity and the family was notified of the results. The identity of the deceased man will not be shared publicly to respect the family’s wishes.

The family has finally received answers about their loved one, OPP Acting Detective Superintendent Daniel Nadeau, Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy Implementation Team, said in the press release.

“This case is another example of how technological advancements, in this instance the use of investigative genetic genealogy, can help police with historic cases,” said Nadeau. “We look forward to being able to provide more families with answers in the future, as we continue to implement this technique into our investigations.”

The House of Delegates addressed the use of forensic genetic genealogy at the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago on Monday.

Resolution 519 calls on all states to adopt legislation that regulates the use of forensic genetic genealogy to identify suspects or victims in criminal cases. It should be based on a 2021 Maryland model law that includes specific tenets to protect users of genealogical databases such as FamilyTreeDNA and GEDmatch.

The resolution also urges any legislation regulating the use of forensic genetic genealogy to require judicial supervision; provide the defense with access to the information; follow guidelines shared by the U.S. Department of Justice; and provide data privacy protections for genealogical database users.

Stephen Saltzburg, a delegate from the Criminal Justice Section, said in introducing the resolution that it covers the relationship between law enforcement agencies and genealogical databases that gather DNA evidence from people who are willing to provide it. Law enforcement uses this evidence to identify individuals who have committed crimes.

“The problem is it’s been kind of a Wild West,” Saltzburg said. “There are no rules about what these entities should be able to do and what kind of protections the people who provide their DNA should get.”

The Forensic Genetic Genealogy Project tracks criminal cases that have been solved using investigative genetic genealogy, according to the report accompanying Resolution 519. As of early August, the technique had been used to solve 651 criminal cases involving 313 individuals.

But the report also says few states address the use of forensic genetic genealogy by law enforcement.

On a personal note, Saltzburg said his colleague Neal Sonnett was supposed to introduce Resolution 519 to the House. Sonnett, a renowned criminal defense attorney and longtime leader in the Criminal Justice Section, died in July.

“In the two weeks before he passed, Neal asked me to say something to you,” Saltzburg said. “He wanted me to tell you that every time he got up in the House, he loved the opportunity to speak to you, to talk to you, to work with you. He loved the ABA, but he really loved the House of Delegates. And it showed.”

Salzburg played a recording of Sonnett’s voice asking the House to vote in favor of the resolution. It passed overwhelmingly.

The following is a press release issued by the Carson College of Business:

Companies may unintentionally hurt their sales by including the words “artificial intelligence” when describing their offerings that use the technology, according to a study led by Washington State University researchers.

In the study, published in the Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, researchers conducted experimental surveys with more than 1,000 adults in the U.S. to evaluate the relationship between AI disclosure and consumer behavior.

The findings consistently showed products described as using artificial intelligence were less popular, according to Mesut Cicek, clinical assistant professor of marketing and lead author of the study.

“When AI is mentioned, it tends to lower emotional trust, which in turn decreases purchase intentions,” he said. “We found emotional trust plays a critical role in how consumers perceive AI-powered products.”

In the experiments, the researchers included questions and descriptions across diverse product and service categories. For example, in one experiment, participants were presented with identical descriptions of smart televisions, the only difference being the term “artificial intelligence” was included for one group and omitted for the other. The group that saw AI included in the product description indicated they were less likely to purchase the television.

Researchers also discovered that negative response to AI disclosure was even stronger for “high-risk” products and services, those which people commonly feel more uncertain or anxious about buying, such as expensive electronics, medical devices or financial services. Because failure carries more potential risk, which may include monetary loss or danger to physical safety, mentioning AI for these types of descriptions may make consumers more wary and less likely to purchase, according to Cicek.

“We tested the effect across eight different product and service categories, and the results were all the same: it’s a disadvantage to include those kinds of terms in the product descriptions,” Cicek said.

Cicek said the findings provide valuable insights for companies.

The Commonwealth of Kentucky announced it has partnered with FamilySearch to digitize and preserve tens of thousands of primary records, such as birth, death and marriage certificates that are currently on microfilm reels.

The Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives (KDLA) and volunteers from the Kentucky Genealogical Society (KYGS) are now reaching out to the state’s county clerks, the official custodians of these records, to notify them of the opportunity to have their records digitized free of charge by FamilySearch.

They can take advantage of this opportunity simply by advising KDLA that their records may be digitized using a records release form.

In return, the clerks and KDLA will receive copies of the digitized records, and FamilySearch will post a copy on their free online database.

“Local records are some of the most irreplaceable resources for the discovery of documentation of the Commonwealth’s populace. Records like those of marriage, probate and land ownership have been created from each county’s origins, resulting in some of the most continuous sources of the state’s history,” said Rusty Heckaman, state archivist for KDLA.

“Together they are invaluable to the genealogist and researcher alike for the picture they can help paint of our ancestors’ lives. The participation of FamilySearch in the digitization of these records presents a huge opportunity to make these records more accessible to the public. Their increased use can only further promote the value these records hold and increase awareness of the wealth of resources in repositories like KDLA and in the courthouses throughout our state.”

In July, the King Kamehameha V Judiciary History Center (Center) launched a new digital archive providing free public access to resources from its historic collections. This collections portal is made possible through a partnership with the Permanent Legacy Foundation, a nonprofit that provides long-term digital storage for historic records to individuals and nonprofit organizations.

The Center stewards historical material dating to the Hawaiian Kingdom, the republic and territorial periods, through statehood. In addition to court-related art, objects, and artifacts, the Center’s archives hold a range of physical and digital resources, unique to the institution, that carry significant educational and historical importance for current and future generations.

Probate record of (the late) Kuhina Nui Victoria Kamāmalu (Kaʻahumanu IV): Dated October 4, 1867. Lists John O. Dominis (Legislator of the House of Nobles, husband of Princess, later Queen, Liliʻuokalani) and Mataio Kekūanaōʻa (father of Victoria Kamāmalu and last to hold title of Kuhina Nui) as co-administrators of Kaʻahumanu IV’s estate, who passed away on May 29, 1866. Later, when her father Kekūanaōʻa died on November 24, 1868, Kaʻahumanu IV’s estate passed to her half-sister Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani, who later willed it to Bernice Pauahi Bishop, aliʻi and wife of Charles Reed Bishop (document signer), which upon their death later became part of the Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate.

Curator of Collections & Programs Brieanah Gouveia explains, “The Center’s collections capture Hawaiʻi’s unique civic history, showcasing some of the people, institutions, and events that shaped law, public policy, and government in the islands over the last 200 years. Together these influences created the unique hybrid legal system, and social institutions, that characterize Hawaiʻi today.”

The Center began its partnership with Permanent in 2022, to expand public access to its collections and share the history of Hawaiʻi’s civic story with broader audiences. Since then, more than 10 Judiciary volunteers have helped scan and digitize records to prepare them for the new digital archive.

In February of this year, nonprofit Friends of the Judiciary History Center of Hawaiʻi received a grant from Permanent to hire a student intern from the University of Hawaiʻi (UH) at Mānoa’s Library and Information Science Master’s Program.

Gouveia worked with the client liaison at Permanent to interview students and draft a contract. Morgan Schmidt was the successful candidate from a round of interviews. For three months, Schmidt inventoried, organized, and created content descriptions for previously scanned material, then published them for public access.

The newly digitized resources are just a fraction of the total holdings from the Center’s archives at Aliʻiōlani Hale. In the coming months and years, many more legal records, photographs, maps and blueprints, manuscripts, newspaper articles, and more will be digitized and added to the online portal. One upcoming digitization project includes processing the papers of former Hawaiʻi Chief Justices, including the late Chief Justice William S. Richardson.

While the Hawaiʻi State Archives and UH Mānoa libraries have collections related to historic material held at Aliʻiōlani Hale, most primary sources in this archive are found only at the Center.

For information on how to access material in person, please contact the King Kamehameha V Judiciary History Center’s curator at 808-539-4995.

Those who are interested in volunteering as a collections assistant may apply by sending a letter of interest describing skills and work history, highlighting any related experience with historic collections and/or education, to Collections@jhchawaii.net.