The Michigan State Police have identified a woman whose remains were found along Lake Michigan nearly four decades ago.

Investigators say the woman long known as “New Buffalo Jane Doe” is 71-year-old Dorothy Glanton of Chicago, Illinois. Glanton was reported missing after leaving her Chicago home on December 9, 1987. Her remains were discovered on April 8, 1988, near New Buffalo, but her identity could not be determined at the time.

In 2023, detectives from the MSP Niles Post reopened the case and partnered with the DNA Doe Project, a nonprofit that uses investigative genetic genealogy to identify unknown individuals. DNA extracted from Glanton’s remains was analyzed and uploaded to genealogical databases, which allowed researchers to build a family tree leading to her identification.

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