She was found near a shoreline in 1993. Now her remains have been ID’d
A woman whose remains remained unidentified after being found near the Minnesota coastline has been identified nearly 33 years later, and now authorities want to know how she ended up there.
ruins found June 1993The Washington County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday, June 11, that the 27-year-old St. Denise Elaine Sexton Hartley, who went missing in St. Paul, has been identified, he said.
The sheriff’s office said the remains were found in Washington and Ramsey counties, which share a border. The woman whose remains eventually came to be known as “Bone Lake Jane Doe.”
Denise Hartley was born in St. Louis in 1993 at the age of 27. He disappeared in St. Paul, Minnesota. Decades later, in 2026, authorities announced that the remains found in 1993 were his.
According to the sheriff’s office, his case is one that has been solved thanks to technological and DNA advances over the past few decades.
The cause and manner of the woman’s death have not been determined, and no suspects have been arrested as of mid-June, the sheriff’s office said.
Here’s what we know about Hartley, his remains and how authorities were able to identify him 30 years after his disappearance.
Detective says woman moved from Ohio to Minnesota
Hartley is the youngest of 15 siblings, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
Detective Clayton Evens of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office told USA TODAY on Friday, June 12, that in 1992 he had an elementary school-aged daughter and moved from St. Louis, Ohio. He said he moved to the St. Paul area.
Evens said he was experiencing problems there, so his family suggested he live in Minnesota to “start a new life.” She left her daughter to her ex-husband, the child’s father.
Hartley was last heard from in 1993, according to the sheriff’s office.
“They said his two brothers reported him missing,” Evens said. “That was a long time ago. We actually couldn’t find an official missing person report, but they said they reported him missing at the time.”
He added that they may have reported his disappearance to a different agency.
Denise Hartley was born in St. Petersburg in 1993. He was 27 when he disappeared in St. Paul, Minnesota. In 2026, 30 years after his disappearance, authorities announced that the remains found in 1993 belonged to him.
Police tried to use victim sketch to identify woman
On June 12, 1993, St. About 60 kilometers northeast of St. Paul, someone found a severed human head near the shoreline of Bone Lake in Scandia (then known as New Scandia Town). The next day someone came to St. He found a human foot in Pig’s Eye Lake in St. Paul.
Evens told USA TODAY that on June 21, 1993, someone called police and said investigators would find the rest of the victim under the Mendota Bridge in Mendota Heights.
“After the phone call that day, it turned into a large search party with almost everyone on call,” Evens said. “They searched everywhere. They couldn’t find anything related to this case, so we couldn’t prove whether this was a legitimate tip or whether someone was just calling to call.”
The detective said the caller was never identified.
Early in the investigation, authorities prepared a sketch of the unidentified woman, but that came to nothing, Evens said.
In the early 1990s, police attempted to use a sketch to identify a woman whose remains were found near the Bone Lake shoreline in Minnesota in June 1993. More than three decades after the remains were found, DNA helped investigators identify the woman as Denise Hartley.
With no clues left, researchers turned to DNA
Over the years, investigators have tried to identify him, but their efforts have been unsuccessful.
In 2024, 30 years after the remains were found, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office DNA Doe ProjectA non-profit organization based in California whose goal is to identify human remains.
Denise Hartley (right) was born in St. Louis in 1993 at the age of 27. He disappeared in St. Paul, Minnesota. Decades later, in 2026, authorities announced that the remains found in 1993 were his.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office said the goal is to use investigative genetic genealogy to generate new leads in the case.
Due to renewed investigations and DNA, family members of the dead woman were tracked to Columbus, Ohio, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said.
Denise Hartley (right) in St. Petersburg in 1993. He was 27 when he disappeared in St. Paul, Minnesota. The remains, discovered in 1993, remained unidentified for thirty years. In 2026, authorities announced that the remains belonged to Hartley.
Investigators interviewed family members in Ohio and obtained a DNA sample from a woman who turned out to be Hartley’s daughter. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) later confirmed through DNA analysis that the remains belonged to Hartley.
“The genealogy part was really handled by the DNA Doe Project, and I always like to give shout-outs to them because they were phenomenal to work with,” Evens told USA TODAY. “Everything they do is based on fundraising and volunteerism. They’re the ones who really helped us a lot with this case.”
What’s next for researchers?
Hartley disappeared just weeks before he started working for the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in 1993, Sheriff Dan Starry said in the news release.
“Seeing this case come full circle more than 30 years later is a reminder that no matter how much time has passed, we never stop seeking answers for the victims and their families,” he said. “While we can’t change what happened, we can honor Denise by restoring her identity and giving her family the answers they deserve.”
According to Evens, there is still work to be done.
“Now that we’ve finally identified him, our job really becomes the investigative part of what happened to him in the last few days or last few weeks of his life,” he said.
Local officials said the investigation into how Hartley died is active. They ask anyone with information to contact the Washington County Sheriff’s Office at 651-430-7850.
Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY’s trend team. From Norfolk, Virginia – 757th. Email him at sdmartin@usatoday.com.
This article first appeared on USA TODAY: The identity of the woman nicknamed ‘Bone Lake Jane Doe’ was determined after she disappeared in 1993
