ROANE COUNTY, Tenn. — Thanks to forensic genetic genealogy and a partnership between the Roane County Sheriff's Office and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, we now know the identity of a woman found dead in Roane County almost four decades ago.
Back in April, TBI reached out to RCSO about an initiative they had for cold cases. They had gotten some funding to help out with cold cases around the state.
"Our Jane Doe case that we had with the burnt body in 1987 was selected as one of those cases," Tim Hawn, chief deputy of Roane County Sheriff's Office, said. "So that initiative was centered around the use of DNA. At the time, we did not have DNA because in 1987 DNA, as far as with investigative work was not existent."
On Aug. 29, 1987, the woman's body was found next to a garbage dumpster in the 2600 block of Highway 58 in Kingston. The woman was white, likely between the ages of 35 and 50, and was burned after her death and placed beside the dumpster, according to TBI.
RCSO investigators worked to determine her identity, but could not. She was classified as a Jane Doe.
"Back then you didn't have the capability of submitting DNA samples," Hawn said. "Back then the only thing that we really relied on was an anthropologist to be able to take the skeletal structure and determine whether or not it was male or female, and to build a drawing of what they believe that person would look like."
Attempts to identify Jane Doe continued and the University of Tennessee Forensic Anthropology Center submitted a sample of her remains to the FBI. A DNA profile was developed and entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System in hopes that the woman would eventually be identified.
In April 2023, TBI agents assisted the RCSO by submitting a sample of the woman's remains to Othram Inc., a private lab based in Texas, for forensic genetic genealogical (FGG) DNA testing. Scientists provided information about possible relatives connected to the woman and made contact with them to obtain DNA.
The DNA was sent to Othram for comparison against the DNA of the unidentified woman. Based on DNA and forensic genealogy results, Othram scientists confirmed that the unidentified remains belong to Betty Lou Wisley.
"I do want to thank the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation for coming to us," Hawn said. "You cannot put a price on trying to determine what happened to someone. You can't put a price on that whatsoever and the unfortunate part of it is a lot of times small departments don't have access to big department technology."
Wisley was born on Dec. 20, 1935, and was from Clinton, Missouri. She was living in or near the Knox County area at the time of her death.
RCSO investigators and TBI special agents are hoping the public can help piece together the events leading up to Wisley's death. Anyone with information, specifically any knowledge about people she may have been with before her death, is asked to contact RCSO at 865-717-4722 or email tips to awolff@roanesheriff.org.
Multiple John and Jane Doe's in East Tennessee have been identified recently thanks to forensic genetic genealogy and the TBI's Unidentified Human Remains DNA Initiative.
With Wisley, Hawn said they're still working to determine whether it's a homicide here or an accidental death and an abuse of a corpse.
"The hardest thing is not knowing what happened to your family member," Hawn said. "To be able to go to a family, and say after all these years, 'Hey, we have located your sister, your daughter, your wife, your cousin, we've located them and we're working on to determine what happened, how did they die?' it gives them some closure with that family member."