WINDSOR TOWNSHIP, Pa. – New answers bring new questions about a woman whose remains were found in Windsor Township more than three decades ago.
“The new testing with the DNA is the only reason we found out who she was,” said Berks County Coroner Matthew Stitzel.
Investigators say genetic genealogy identified Nuria Rodriguez as the “Christman Jane Doe” whose remains were discovered in a field on Christman Road in Windsor Township in June of 1992.
“The remains in Windsor Township were somewhat buried,” explained Berks County District Attorney John Adams. “A skull was found by a farmer then authorities were notified. They dug up a bit of a grave [and] the body was recovered.”
Authorities recently learned Rodriguez was 25 when she went missing from the Bronx, New York but it’s unclear how her body ended up in Berks County.
The coroner says Parabon Labs connected DNA from the remains to a potential relative.
“Through DNA testing with them, we were able to get DNA from him and send that to Parabon Labs as well, where they were able to make a 100% confirmation match on her DNA,” said Stitzel.
Now they’re trying to find her killer.
“There’s nothing we can do currently to tell us her cause or manner of death because of the condition the remains were in when we found them,” said Stitzel. “There just wasn’t anything to test or visually look at for us.”
Authorities say they are looking at a possible connection with the death of Anna Kane, whose body was discovered in 1988 and whose case was solved in 2022.
In that case, Scott Grim from the Hamburg area was named as the person responsible for her death. He died in 2018.
“It’s very coincidental that both of these bodies are A.) found in the same vicinity and B.) they both have connections to prostitution,” said Adams.
Authorities say Kane’s killer was found by connecting Grim’s DNA from a letter he’d sent to DNA found on Kane’s clothing.
They say they’ll do additional testing to see if they can extract DNA from clothing found near Rodriguez’s remains.
“We are doing further DNA testing to maybe help us answer the ultimate question,” added Adams.