{"id":250754,"date":"2026-04-03T23:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T23:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/250754\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T23:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T23:49:08","slug":"dna-identifies-opelika-woman-found-dead-in-california-ravine-nearly-50-years-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/250754\/","title":{"rendered":"DNA identifies Opelika woman found dead in California ravine nearly 50 years later"},"content":{"rendered":"

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, Cal. (WSFA<\/a>) – DNA testing has confirmed that a woman whose body was found at the bottom of a California ravine nearly 50 years ago is that of a missing Opelika woman, authorities are confirming.<\/p>\n

Victoria Jean Hargrove was just 29 when she was reported missing from her home. Now, the Riverside County District Attorney\u2019s Office is revealing her identity and asking for tips to help determine why she traveled to California and who killed her.<\/p>\n

The case began in February 1980, when motorists found an unidentified woman\u2019s body at the bottom of a ravine in an unincorporated area of Riverside County near Palm Desert. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s nearly 2,200 miles from Opelika. <\/p>\n

\"VictoriaVictoria Jean Hargrove was just 29 when she disappeared from her home in Opelika. Three weeks later, her unidentified body was found in California ravine. It would take DNA and nearly 50 years to identify the body as that of Hargrove.(Source: Othram\/DNASolves.com)<\/p>\n

Investigators were unable to determine a cause of death, but the case is being investigated as a homicide.<\/p>\n

Despite decades of work that included fingerprint and dental record comparisons, the woman\u2019s identity remained unknown. She was listed simply as \u201cRiverside County Jane Doe (1980).\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2025, investigators partnered with Othram<\/a>, a Texas-based forensic DNA lab and genetic genealogy company, in an effort to solve the cold case. <\/p>\n

Using advanced DNA testing, Othram developed a profile from the remains, which helped genealogists with the Riverside County Regional Cold Case Homicide Team generate new leads.<\/p>\n

The California Department of Justice later confirmed the woman was Hargrove, investigators said. <\/p>\n

Authorities also said the time from Hargrove\u2019s disappearance in Opelika to the recovery of her body in California was just three weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIdentifying Victoria Hargrove is just the next step in determining what happened to her and helping to get answers for her family,\u201d said Kristen Mittelman, Othram\u2019s chief development officer.<\/p>\n

Now, California investigators are urging anyone with possible leads, no matter how small, to share them. Tips can be shared with Supervising Investigator Billy Hester at 951-955-0070, or by emailing coldcaseunit@rivcoda.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Not reading this story on the WSFA News App? Get news alerts FASTER and FREE in the Apple App Store<\/a> and the Google Play Store<\/a>! <\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 WSFA. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RIVERSIDE COUNTY, Cal. (WSFA) – DNA testing has confirmed that a woman whose body was found at the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250755,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28848,7,9,8,111557,25599,29215,23118,1247,1331,111553,111555,111556,111554,111550,111552,111551],"class_list":{"0":"post-250754","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-california","8":"tag-alabama","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-california-headlines","11":"tag-california-news","12":"tag-california-ravine","13":"tag-cold-case","14":"tag-dna","15":"tag-jane-doe","16":"tag-missing-woman","17":"tag-murder","18":"tag-opelika","19":"tag-opelika-alabama","20":"tag-othram","21":"tag-riverside-county-california","22":"tag-victoria-jean-hargrove","23":"tag-wfsa","24":"tag-wsfa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250754","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=250754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}