{"id":232340,"date":"2026-03-23T09:01:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T09:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/232340\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T09:01:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T09:01:14","slug":"michigan-woman-murdered-in-california-in-1977-identified","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/232340\/","title":{"rendered":"Michigan woman murdered in California in 1977 identified"},"content":{"rendered":"

A 30-year-old woman, the victim of\u00a0an apparent\u00a0murder, whose body was\u00a0found\u00a0dumped\u00a0in a snowbank in Northern California in 1977 has been\u00a0identified, and investigators continue to search for\u00a0her\u00a0killer.<\/p>\n

A Bay Area couple out for a walk on Dec. 17, 1977, spotted the young woman\u2019s body near the intersection of Highway 20 and Interstate 80 in Emigrant Gap, an unincorporated\u00a0community in Placer County, California less than an hour\u2019s drive from the Nevada state line.<\/p>\n

Law enforcement quickly descended on the area\u00a0and later spoke with a witness who said they saw two men in a Toyota Celica around 1 p.m. struggling with something heavy in the backseat in same area where\u00a0the victim was found.<\/p>\n

According to SFGATE, Placer County Sheriff\u2019s investigator Johnnie Smith recalled, \u201cWe were so close. We were three hours behind the body being dumped.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a\u00a0news release<\/a>, investigators with the Placer County Sheriff\u2019s Office said the woman, who became known as \u201cEmigrant Gap Jane Doe,\u201d had been strangled to death.<\/p>\n

\"Melinda<\/a><\/p>\n

Previously known as \u201cEmigrants Gap Jane Doe,\u201d Melinda \u201cPip\u201d Beardsley, a victim of an apparent murder, was found in a snowbank in Northern California in Dec. 1977. (Moxxy Forensic Investigations)<\/p>\n

A composite sketch, as\u00a0well as\u00a0her fingerprints and dental records, were sent\u00a0were sent to scores of other law enforcement agencies. Believing she might have been a sex worker, her photo was distributed to every brothel in Nevada.<\/p>\n

Despite extensive efforts over the next several decades, Emigrant Gap Jane Doe\u2019s identity\u00a0remained\u00a0a mystery.<\/p>\n

She was\u00a0ultimately buried\u00a0in an unmarked grave that was exhumed in\u00a02011,\u00a0so investigators could retrieve DNA samples.\u00a0By 2018, they had obtained a partial DNA\u00a0profile,\u00a0but it was not\u00a0suitable for\u00a0genetic\u00a0genealogy, investigators said.<\/p>\n

Then, in 2025, after\u00a0additional\u00a0portions of\u00a0her\u00a0remains were\u00a0tested, investigators were able to produce a DNA profile with sufficient information that\u00a0a\u00a0genealogical investigation\u00a0became\u00a0feasible.<\/p>\n

Officials at the Placer County Sheriff\u2019s Office began working the case with the nonprofit organization\u00a0Moxxy\u00a0Forensic Investigations<\/a>, which specializes in genetic\u00a0genealogy\u00a0and\u00a0missing\u00a0persons\u00a0research.<\/p>\n

In 2026, Emigrant Gap Jane Doe was officially identified as Melinda \u201cPip\u201d Beardsley, a mother who had been missing since the 1970\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\"Melinda<\/p>\n

The area in Emigrants Gap where Melinda \u201cPip\u201d Beardsley\u2019s body was discovered in Dec. 1977. (Google Maps)<\/p>\n

\"Melinda<\/p>\n

Previously known as \u201cEmigrants Gap Jane Doe,\u201d Melinda \u201cPip\u201d Beardsley, a victim of an apparent murder, was found in a snowbank in Northern California in Dec. 1977. (PCSO)<\/p>\n

Born in 1946 in rural Michigan in\u00a0an area\u00a0just north of Detroit, she was the youngest of six children\u00a0and was described by\u00a0a\u00a0sister as \u201can energetic little girl\u201d who was always on the move.<\/p>\n

Marriage license records from 1964 show Beardsley married a 23-year-old man based in L.A. County, though the couple quickly divorced and he was remarried by\u00a01969,\u00a0SFGATE reported<\/a>. Beardsley did have a child but, so far, investigators have not\u00a0identified\u00a0the father or the child.<\/p>\n

Stabbing in popular downtown L.A. restaurant leaves 4 injured <\/a><\/p>\n

A year before she was known to have been working as a server in Carson City, her name appears in a 1976 edition of the Reno-Gazette-Journal for a DUI arrest.<\/p>\n

That information allowed\u00a0sheriff\u2019s\u00a0investigators in Placer County to backtrack her\u00a0whereabouts,\u00a0ultimately leading\u00a0them to one of her relatives and a DNA match that led to identification.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis identification hopefully\u00a0provides\u00a0long-awaited answers to Beardsley\u2019s family, but the work is not done. The Placer County Sheriff\u2019s Office is actively investigating the homicide of Melinda Beardsley,\u201d Placer County investigators said.\u00a0\u201cAdvancements in DNA technology are making it possible to solve cases that once seemed impossible. The Sheriff\u2019s Office\u00a0remains\u00a0committed to\u00a0identifying\u00a0unknown victims and bringing answers to families.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anyone with information related to this homicide investigation is encouraged to contact the Placer County Sheriff\u2019s Office\u2019s Investigations Tip Line at 530-889-7830.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A 30-year-old woman, the victim of\u00a0an apparent\u00a0murder, whose body was\u00a0found\u00a0dumped\u00a0in a snowbank in Northern California in 1977 has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":232341,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[105357,105356,7,9,8,105352,105355,23118,105353,105354,266,10288],"class_list":["post-232340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-apparent-murder","tag-beardsley","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-emigrant-gap","tag-forensic-investigations","tag-jane-doe","tag-melinda-pip-beardsley","tag-melinda-beardsley","tag-northern-california","tag-placer-county"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232340\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}