Grundy County cold case murder victim identified nearly 50 years later with new DNA technology

GRUNDY COUNTY, Ill. (WLS) -- Officials in Grundy County have identified a woman found murdered nearly 50 years ago.

Since her body was found, authorities dubbed her as "Jane Seneca Doe." Her body was found on October 2, 1976 on a farm along U.S. Route 6 near near Seneca, Illinois.

The victim was identified Thursday as JoAnn "Vickie" Smith, Grundy County officials announced at an afternoon news conference.

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Authorities said Smith was found with a gunshot wound to the head. Efforts to identified her at the time failed and no suspect was ever arrested.

Now, 48 years later, new DNA technology and an extensive family tree has finally put a real name with the murder victim.

It was a bittersweet day for everyone involved in announcing the victim's identity, including the family of the woman and the Grundy County authorities who never gave up on the cold case.

"My mother held out hope until her dying day," relative Ronnie Smith said. "It's bittersweet... bitter because the awful fate that Vicky met, but sweet that we can put closure to this and bring her home."

Smith was buried in an unmarked grave at the Braceville-Gardner Cemetery on Thanksgiving Day in 1976.

When the body was found, only a sweater and trash bag covered Smith's face. Investigators believed she was murdered in an unknown location before her body was left in Seneca. With no technology to assist the investigation back then, the case went cold until 2017.

"When I began working on this case, I realized the only way to identify this victim was to obtain DNA," lead investigator Brandon Johnson said. "Therefore on December 17, 2018, the female was exhumed from her resting place for the last 42 years."

Smith was adopted at a young age, which created hurdles in the investigation when trying to identify her through different DNA databases. Adoption records and genealogy helped identify Smith in May.

The family said Smith was always close with her loved ones, growing up in Cincinnati, Ohio. She worked as a Marriott Hotel housekeeper before she was killed.

The family and authorities now hope to find the person who killed Smith in this ongoing investigation. In the meantime, her siblings are planning a celebration of life in coming days, where she'll be buried in South Carolina alongside her parents.

"It's what she deserved... that's what anyone deserves... anyone," Ronnie Smith said.

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"At some point everyone worked on this case," DNA Doe Project founder Margaret Press said in a statement. "She has been at the top of my list of cases I wanted to see identified."