Woman's body IDed after 43 years

SANDUSKY — Thanks to an emerging forensic technique, police have identified a body that washed up locally more than 40 years ago. On March 30, 1980, the body of a woman was found by police near Cedar Point Road, also known as the Cedar Point Chaussee. She was clothed in a dress and did not have any form of identification. Law enforcement officials, using a new technique called genetic genealogy, have finally identified her as Patricia Eleanor Greenwood. Born on June 2, 1948, she was 31 when she died. Genetic genealogy is a process in which a DNA sample from an unknown person is compared against DNA profiles in genealogical databases such as 23andMe and Ancestry.com. Law enforcement officials at the federal and local levels were involved in the investigation seeking to identify the woman's body four decades after its discovery. "I feel pretty good," said Sandusky police Detective Eric Costante, one of the investigators involved. "It's easy to lose hope after 40-plus years. "It's nice to bring a level of closure to the family," he said. Sandusky police Chief Jared Oliver recognized the efforts of Costante, retired Detective Gary Wichman and city manager John Orzech — who's a retired Sandusky police chief — for their roles in the identification. "I am very proud of our detectives' ongoing work in this investigation," Oliver said. Identifying the body would not have been possible without the help of the Cleveland office of the United States Marshals Service, Oliver said. "The United States Marshals initiated this investigation after finding an old teletype from 1980 in another missing person's cold case file," U.S. Marshal Peter Elliott said. Backstory According to a Sandusky police report, just after 8 a.m. on Sunday, March 30, 1980, first responders were called to the lakefront in the 1200 block of Cedar Point Road for a body floating in the water. Sandusky firefighters retrieved the body, which was that of a white woman who was approximately 5 feet, 6 inches tall and weighed about 120 pounds. The body was badly decomposed and had no identifying features like hair, scars or jewelry. According to a 2021 news release from Sandusky police, the unidentified woman was clothed in a size 12 "disco style" party dress. The body was sent to the Cuyahoga County coroner's office for an autopsy. Sandusky police Lt. Scott Dahlgren said that, in 1980, detectives would have looked at any in-house missing persons reports as well as those from outside agencies. The detectives would have looked for initial similarities such as gender and physical build. Detectives would have also looked for scars and tattoos. The process In 2020, Elliott, from the Cleveland U.S. Marshals' office reached out to Sandusky police about the body. Elliott believed the Sandusky Jane Doe may be related to a missing person case the marshals were working on at that time. Wichman began working on the Sandusky Jane Doe case with assistance from Elliott. Wichman has since retired, and the case was taken on by Costante. The marshals office connected Sandusky police with the Porchlight Project. The nonprofit provides funding to help solve cold cases. It was founded by investigative journalist James Renner. Costante said the genetic genealogy process can cost $4,000 to $8,000 or more. Ohio's Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification would not pay for the process, and Sandusky police did not have space for it in the budget. Once Project Porchlight agreed to fund the testing, police drafted a letter in October 2022 to Erie County coroner Brian Baxter seeking authorization to exhume the body for the purpose of obtaining a DNA sample. Baxter authorized the exhumation. The remains were sent to the Lucas County coroner's office, which successfully obtained a DNA profile for the woman. The woman's remains were then reinterred at Sandhill Cemetery in Castalia. The genetic material was then delivered to Bode Technology in Lorton, Virginia. A technician there used the DNA profile to compare against profiles uploaded to GEDmatch. Bode personnel used the pseudonym Sample Sandy for the DNA profile. Using the DNA database a technician was able to identify Sample Sandy as, "most likely (being) a full sibling to volunteer test taker Raymond C. Greenwood, Jr.," according to an affidavit Bode sent to Sandusky police. "The Bode Forensic Genealogy team is honored to have supported (the agencies) in this case and excited that it led to a successful identification of Patricia," said Teresa Vreeland of Bode Technology. Costante contacted Raymond Greenwood, who purportedly did not know of any missing siblings. The detective then talked to Raymond's daughter, who put him in touch with her aunt, Judy. Mom's favorite Patricia Greenwood was one of 12 children. They were all put up for adoption in the Traverse City, Michigan, area. Her aunt told Costante that Patty took it the worst because she had an especially close relationship with their mother. Costante said Patty was known for disappearing for months on end, so the family was not surprised when she was seen for the last time in the late 1970s. There is no record of Patricia Greenwood having been married. She did not have any children. Red tape The next step was to obtain a copy of Patricia Greenwood's birth certificate. Costante said he drew up a subpoena and gave it to Marshal Bill Boldin who, in turn, sent it directly to Michigan's Department of Health and Human Services. The request was rejected because the subpoena did not follow Michigan's uniform interstate depositions and discovery act. After conferring with the Erie County Prosecutor's Office, Costante then sent the original subpoena along with an out-of-state subpoena request to that state's 30th Judicial Circuit Court. This request was also rejected because he hadn't sent enough copies of the request, according to a letter he received. Another attempt was rejected because he had not included a self-addressed stamped envelope with the request. Finally, on March 30, 43 years to the day the body washed up, Costante received a copy of Patricia Greenwood's birth certificate. He said he knew for more than six months that she existed, with the birth certificate, he finally had tangible proof. Next steps No known photograph of Patricia Greenwood exists, Costante said. He is in contact with officials from Michigan, hoping Patricia was issued a photo ID or driver's license and the appropriate authority still has a copy. Another avenue to potentially locate a photo of Patricia Greenwood is high school yearbooks. A reference desk employee at Traverse City's main library branch said there was not a photo of Patricia Greenwood in any Traverse City High School yearbooks from 1964 to 1968. "Just because we know the name does not mean this case is over," Costante said. "We want to know what happened to her." Costante said he believes Patricia was killed, but he wants to know for sure. He said it's possible someone has gotten away with murder for more than four decades. Elliott acknowledged the work of the many agencies that helped in the identification. "The dedication and commitment of our partners in the Avon Lake Police Department, the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office, the Erie County Sheriff and Coroner's Office, the Sandusky Police Department, Bode and the Porchlight Project solved this 43-year mystery and their outstanding teamwork brought closure to the family of Patricia Greenwood nearly five decades later," Elliott said. Anyone who knew Patricia Greenwood can contact Sandusky police at 419-627-5980.