Her remains were first exhumed in 2015, authorities said. In February 2021, they sent the remains to Othram, a forensic lab that specializes in using forensic genetic genealogy to solve older crimes.
By September, they had successfully obtained enough DNA to build a profile and search for her living relatives.
A half-sister of Mrs. Sniegowski, curious about her family history, had submitted a DNA sample to ancestry.com, the genealogy website. Investigators said they matched that sample to the DNA of the remains and were able to track down Ms. Sniegowski’s family from there.
“Now I know who Jane Doe is,” Don Lawson, who found Ms. Sniegowski’s body, said at the press conference. mr. Lawson, now a Boone County commissioner, added: “It’s not just someone I found in an unfortunate way. She’s a family member.”
Although Ms. Sniegowski’s body has been identified, the case is far from resolved.
“Now the work begins to find the low-life people who have done this,” said Mr. Sniegowski at the press conference. He added: “Anyone who knows my family knows we don’t forget.”
Mr. Sniegowski, who lives in Dallas, said his sister loved to sing and was funny and athletic. At one point, she even tried for the boys’ wrestling team, Mr. Sniegowski said in a phone interview on Thursday.
“She was a fighter,” he said.
Mr Sniegowski said his sister had left all her belongings behind when she disappeared, a sign that she had no intention of going far.