Officials identify remains as girl reported missing in 1978

JACKSBORO, Tenn. (AP) — Skeletal remains found nearly 40 years ago in rural northeast Tennessee have been identified as those of a missing Indiana girl, authorities said Tuesday.

The remains were positively identified this week as those of Tracy Sue Walker, who was born in 1963 and reported missing from the Lafayette, Indiana, area in 1978, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said in a statement.

The remains were found in 1985 in the Elk Valley area of Campbell County — nearly 400 miles (640 kilometers) southeast of Lafayette — and forensic anthropologists determined they belonged to a juvenile female, but they weren’t able to identify her.

Earlier this year, the bureau worked with the University of Tennessee Anthropology Department and sent a sample of the child’s remains to Othram, a private laboratory that analyzes human DNA. Scientists there conducted forensic genetic genealogy testing, leading to a possible relative of the child who was living in Indiana.

Using that information, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation contacted possible family members in Lafayette and were told they had a family member go missing from the area in 1978.

The Lafayette Police Department helped Tennessee agents get familial DNA for possible siblings of the girl and they came back with a match, the bureau said.

Agents still don’t know how Walker ended up in Campbell County or what circumstances led to her death, but they said they hope the public can help provide additional information now that the girl has been identified.