{"id":416055,"date":"2026-07-29T02:44:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T02:44:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/416055\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T02:44:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T02:44:20","slug":"1978-kern-county-jane-doe-case-identified-as-15-year-old-fresno-girl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/416055\/","title":{"rendered":"1978 Kern County Jane Doe case identified as 15-year-old Fresno girl"},"content":{"rendered":"

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 The Kern County Sheriff\u2019s Office announced in a press conference that the 1978 Jane Doe has been identified as 15-year-old Michelle Louise Collier of Fresno.<\/p>\n

In June 1978, a tractor operator found human remains while cultivating a grape vineyard in South Wheeler Ridge Road in Arvin. The skeletal remains were moved from a shallow grave and taken to the Kern County Coroner\u2019s Office. An autopsy was performed, and the cause of death was listed as undetermined, and the manner was listed as a homicide.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Kern County Sheriff\u2019s Office announced in a press conference that the 1978 Jane Doe has been identified as 15-year-old Michelle Louise Collier of Fresno. PHOTO: KCSO<\/p>\n

In November 1978, the Jane Doe was buried at Arvin Cemetery. In August 2007, the Jane Doe was exhumed from the cemetery for the purposes of obtaining DNA and reopening the investigation.<\/p>\n

In February 2008, an anthropologist with California State University, Bakersfield, conducted an in-depth examination. It was then determined that the Jane Doe was 15 to 24 years.<\/p>\n

Specimens from Jane Doe were sent by the coroner\u2019s office to the Department of Justice in April 2008.<\/p>\n

In March 2015, KCSO was contacted by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Project ALERT initiative offering help to the case. By August 2015, a copy of a facial reconstruction of Jane Doe was rendered by National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Kern County Sheriff\u2019s Office announced in a press conference that the 1978 Jane Doe has been identified as 15-year-old Michelle Louise Collier of Fresno. PHOTO: KCSO<\/p>\n

In March 2025, her DNA was submitted for Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy, also known as FIGG.<\/p>\n

In August 2025, the Kern County Coroner\u2019s Office was contacted by KCSO indicating that they received a positive hit from Othram on a bone specimen that was sent to them by the Department of Justice.<\/p>\n

In October 2025, DNA comparison from Jane Doe and the potential mother was received to the coroner\u2019s office and confirmed that the 1978 Jane Doe to be her daughter. She was positively identified as 15-year-old Michelle Louise Collier of Fresno. Family was then notified.<\/p>\n

Collier was initially missing from February 1978.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Kern County Sheriff\u2019s Office announced in a press conference that the 1978 Jane Doe has been identified as 15-year-old Michelle Louise Collier of Fresno. PHOTO: KBAK\/KBFX<\/p>\n

In April 2026, Collier\u2019s remains were disinterred from Arvin Cemetery and taken to the coroner\u2019s office. Arrangements were later made by Collier\u2019s family. In July 2026, Collier\u2019s siblings responded to the coroner\u2019s office and retrieved her remains.<\/p>\n

Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood emphasized the work detectives in the case had done to get it resolved.<\/p>\n

Detective Ashley Thompson with KCSO said, \u201cAlthough today\u2019s announcement marks a significant milestone, our work is not over. Identifying Michelle is an important step, but the circumstances surrounding her death remains unknown.\u201d<\/p>\n

Supervising Deputy Coroner Regina Rosso talked about the case from the coroner\u2019s perspective. She described how new technology, such as FIGG, helped identify victims. She emphasized that due to the conditions of Michelle’s body, fingerprint identification was not possible. Rosso talked about how Michelle\u2019s DNA was then taken in 2007.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Kern County Sheriff\u2019s Office announced in a press conference that the 1978 Jane Doe has been identified as 15-year-old Michelle Louise Collier of Fresno. PHOTO: KCSO<\/p>\n

Cynthia Dunbar, Michelle\u2019s older sister, spoke out during the conference alongside her sibling and spouse. She said their mother was not able to be in attendance due to health. She thanked the Kern County Sheriff\u2019s Office and those involved in the case. \u201cShe disappeared 48 years ago and was only recently that we knew where she was. At least with this information, my family has some closure.\u201d She thanked extended family for the submission of DNA samples that helped Michelle be identified.<\/p>\n

Michelle’s case remains open and KCSO is asking for anyone with information to come forward. Anyone with information regarding this case is urged to contact the Kern County Sheriff\u2019s Office at (661)861-3110 or Kern Secret Witness at (661)322-4040.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 The Kern County Sheriff\u2019s Office announced in a press conference that the 1978 Jane…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":416056,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-416055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416055","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=416055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416055\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/416056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}