A woman whose remains were found nearly 50 years ago in California has been identified as a Detroit-area native, with her death considered a homicide. 

The Placer County Sheriff’s Office in California reported on March 18 that the woman who was known in their community as “Emigrant Gap Jane Doe” is confirmed to be Melinda “Pip” Beardsley, a woman who had been missing since the mid 1970s. 

The break in the case came through advancements in DNA technology and decades of investigative work, the sheriff’s office said. 

Beardsley’s remains were discovered amid a snowbank on Dec. 17, 1977, in the Emigrant Gap area of Placer County.  

“Investigators later determined she had been strangled to death. Despite extensive investigative efforts over the years, her identity remained unknown,” the sheriff’s office said. 

Those attempts included distributing her fingerprints and identifying information to law enforcement agencies across the United States and Canada, including submitting a report to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 

The Placer County Sheriff’s Office said its agency requested exhumation of her remains in 2011 in hopes that newer forensic techniques could identify her. A partial DNA profile was created in 2018; further testing happened over the years. 

By 2025, a DNA profile with sufficient details for “investigative genetic genealogy” was finally available. With that information, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Investigations team began working with Moxxy Forensic Investigations. This nonprofit organization works with law enforcement agencies on investigative genetic genealogy and missing-person cases. 

In the meantime, Beardsley’s family was working with The Doe Network, a volunteer organization that focuses on missing and unidentified person cases. The Doe Network reached out to Moxxy Forensics. 

Moxxy Forensics reviewed Beardsley’s life and the circumstances known about her disappearance, efforts that led to a possible connection to Emigrant Gap Jane Doe. DNA comparison testing took place, and test results were confirmed during February 2026. 

Beardsley was born in 1946 in rural Michigan, just north of Detroit, Moxxy Forensics said. The last time anyone in the family confirmed her location was in 1976, in Carson City, Nevada. 

“This identification hopefully provides long-awaited answers to Beardsley’s family, but the work is not done. The Placer County Sheriff’s Office is actively investigating the homicide of Melinda Beardsley,” the sheriff’s office said. 

“Every unidentified person is someone’s child, sibling, or parent,” said Katie Thomas/Co-Founder of Moxxy Forensic Investigations. “Restoring Melinda’s name restores her dignity. We are honored to stand beside her family and our law enforcement partners in this work.”

Authorities ask that anyone with information about Beardsley’s homicide contact the Placer County Sheriff’s Office Investigations Tip Line at 530-889-7830.