Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office Teams with Othram To Identify a 1987 John DoeAfter 38 years, a man whose remains were found in Tarrant County has been identified as Shirlee Lewis Henkel, born in 1942.

In 2024, the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office sent forensic evidence to Othram's laboratory in The Woodlands, Texas in hopes that advanced DNA testing could help identify the man. Othram scientists produced a suitable DNA extract from the remains. A comprehensive DNA profile was then developed for the man using Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing®. Othram's forensic genetic genealogy team then conducted a genealogical search that resulted in new leads, which were provided to law enforcement.
These leads enabled a follow-up investigation, allowing investigators to identify potential relatives of the man and it was determined that the unknown man was identified as Shirlee Lewis Henkel who was born on August 14, 1942. Henkel was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force who was born in Deloit, Iowa. In 1994, his family held a funeral for him with a gravestone in Saint Clair Cemetery in Ute, Iowa.

​Read the full article here: https://dnasolves.com/articles/shirlee-lewis-henkel-tarrant-county/

Was this teen whose remains were found in 1973 from the
Carolinas?

​http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article140373298.html

BY JOEMARUSAK
[email protected]
March 23, 2017 04:02 PM
Updated March 23, 2017 04:45 PM

Recent scientific testing on the remains of a teenage girl that were found in Pennsylvania in 1973 show she was
likely from the Southeast, possibly the Carolinas, according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited
Children.

On Oct. 10, 1973, the body of a young woman was found on the Edward Martin Military Reserve in Fort
Indiantown Gap, Pa. She is known only as Jane Doe.

An anthropological exam has concluded the teen had been dead for up to three weeks, the center announced
Thursday. The teen was white, possibly of southeast European descent and 16 to 19 years old. She was 5-feet-5 to
5-feet-8 inches tall, the exam showed.
​
No cause or manner of death could be determined, according to the center. Today's top news by email The local news you need to start your day Enter Email Address The center facilitated a chemical isotope analysis on the remains through the University of South Florida’s Forensic Anthropology Center and associate professor Erin Kimmerle. The analysis concluded she was probably born and raised in the Southeast, including central-east Texas, eastern Oklahoma, Arkansas, southern Missouri, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, central and southern West Virginia, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, southern and eastern Virginia into southern Maryland and Delaware shores. The center created a 3D facial reconstruction of the teen using a CT scan of the skull found in Pennsylvania in 1973. Anyone with information about Jane Doe is urged to call the Pennsylvania State Police at 717-865-2194 or the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-842-5678).

The area she was found in is marked by the black star. The green shaded areas are where the isotopes indicate she was born and raised in. 

​https://www.ldnews.com/story/news/local/2017/03/25/new-clues-may-help-identify-jane-doe/99587986/

​"We know her family and friends are still alive," Schweiker said. "Her story needs to get into their hands."
Anyone with any information about Jane Doe is asked to call Cpl. Nathan Trate at the Pennsylvania State Police Jonestown at 717-865-2194 or the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-842-5678).