After decades, DNA technology solves mystery of pregnant teenager murdered in 1975 in Waukegan
A pregnant teenager whose body was discovered unidentified more than five decades ago in Iowa has finally been recognized as a young woman residing in Waukegan, Illinois, thanks to modern DNA testing. The advance represents a break in the mystery that had lasted for generations.
The results were announced this Tuesday by the DNA Doe Project, an organization specializing in identifying missing people through genetic genealogy. On April 11, 1975, a fisherman found the remains of a black girl in the Mississippi River in Clinton County, Iowa. She was without clothes, jewelry or any other belongings that could help with her identification. At that time, coroners estimated her age to be between 12 and 23, and that she had been shot in the head months earlier.
The autopsy confirmed that the death was a homicide and revealed that the young woman was ten weeks pregnant at the time she was killed.
For a long time, the victim was known only as Jane Clinton Doe. During the decades following the discovery of the body, his identity remained unknown, and the person responsible for his murder had never been caught. Last year, the case was referred to the DNA Doe Project, which uses advanced genetic genealogy methods to identify unnamed victims. The application of this innovative methodology has been crucial in bringing answers to cases considered insoluble.
In October 2025, a group of 16 genealogists, from three different countries, dedicated an entire weekend to analyze the evidence and work on elucidating the case.
DNA Doe Project team member Matthew Waterfield shared that “it’s probably the most rewarding work I’ve ever been involved in.” He described the process as arduous and often time-consuming, requiring great effort, but highlighted the passion of everyone involved for the ultimate goal of naming the victims.
The organization reported that the team made a significant discovery early in the investigation. Genealogists were able to identify the teenager’s grandparents, who lived in Louisiana and later settled in the Kenosha region, Wisconsin.
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Using this information, they were able to track down the couple’s eldest son, who had served in the United States Navy and lived in various locations across the country, before settling down with his wife and children in the 1970s. It was then that they discovered the existence of a daughter.
“We weren’t sure if they had a daughter. Then we saw that they had a few sons, and it wasn’t until we found a birth record in California with the name Cheryl Edwards that we realized it was probably a daughter of the family we were investigating, which we confirmed,” explained Waterfield. He added that when researching her, they found “absolutely no evidence that she was alive after 1975”, which to the team was a strong indication that she could be Jane Doe.
The team then reported to the Iowa Department of Public Safety the suspicion that Jane Clinton Doe was Cheryl Lynn Edwards, the missing daughter. A Department of Public Safety investigator was able to locate and contact a member of Edwards’ family, who confirmed that he had been missing for a long time.
Additional DNA testing performed definitively confirmed that the victim known as Jane Clinton Doe was, in fact, Cheryl Lynn Edwards, as disclosed by authorities.
The Clinton County Sheriff’s Office said Edwards’ family had been searching for her since her disappearance. Authorities stated that, with the identification finally completed, the investigation into Cheryl Edwards’ murder will be able to resume with new perspectives and focus on the search for justice after so long.
