NEED TO KNOW

Victoria Hargrove’s body was found in California weeks after she disappeared in Alabama in 1980

Investigators used advanced DNA testing decades later to identify her as the “Riverside County Jane Doe”

Authorities are still investigating her cause of death and how she traveled from Alabama to California

It’s been almost 50 years since an unidentified body was found in a ravine in California. Now, the Jane Doe’s identity has now been discovered.

Alabama resident Victoria Jean Hargrove disappeared from her home in Opelika on Jan. 28, 1980. Three weeks after Hargrove, who was 29 at the time, went missing, motorists found a body on Feb. 18 in Palm Desert, Calif., according to the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office website.

The victim was described at the time as a white female between 20 and 25 years old, approximately 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighing about 115 lbs.

Fingerprint and dental records could not determine who she was, earning the nickname “Riverside County Jane Doe,” according to Alabama news outlet AL.com.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office investigated the body as a homicide but could not determine a cause of death. They reviewed the cold case again in 2008 and 2009 with no new leads.

Yet, decades later in 2025, investigators used the Texas-based DNA lab Othram to test for building the woman’s DNA profile.

The Riverside County Regional Cold Case Homicide Team forensic genetic genealogist then used the profile to find new leads.

One of these leads worked, and the California Department of Justice lab confirmed that Hargrove was the previously unidentified woman.

The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office said they are still investigating Hargrove’s cold case, including her cause of death and how she got from Alabama to California.

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“Giving a name back to Victoria Hargrove after more than four decades is incredibly meaningful — for her family, and everyone working on this case. We’re grateful for the advances in forensic genealogy that made this possible, and investigators hope the public will help fill in the remaining pieces of her story,” the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office shared in a statement.

Any leads can be reported to the Supervising Investigator Billy Hester (951) 955-0070, or by emailing  coldcaseunit@rivcoda.org.

Read the original article on People