Canada

HowoneofCanada’
s‘ol
destunsol
vedandmostuni
que’
caseswascr
acked

Fordecades,
thewomanpulledfr
om t
heNat
ionRi
verin1975wasamy ster
y–butt
hankst
o
i
nvesti
gati
vegenet
icgeneal
ogy,
sheandt
hesuspectwerefi
nal
l
yident
if
ied

Ley
landCeccoi
nTor
ont
o

Wed12Jul
202306.
25EDT

Fornear
lyfi
vedecades,
li
tt
lewasknownaboutt
hewomanwhosebodywaspul
l
edf
rom t
he
Nati
onRiver
,90mileswestofMontr
eal
,on3May1975.

Shewaswhite,wi
thshoul
der-
lengt
hbrownhairrecent
lydyedstr
awberr
yblondandwel
l
-
mani
curednail
s.Butshehadnoident
if
icat
ionnoranycleari
denti
fyi
ngfeat
ures.

Overti
me, thewoman–knownsi mplyastheNati
onRiv
erLady–became“oneoft
heol
dest
unsolvedandmostunique”casesthelocalpol
i
cefor
cehadeverdeal
twi
th,
stumpi
ng
successiv
egenerat
ionsofinvest
igat
ors.

Lastweek,aft
er47years,Ontar
iopr
ovi
nci
alpoli
ceannouncedthattheNati
onRiverLadyhad
beenidenti
fi
edasJewell Par
chmanLangf
ord,aprominentbusi
nesspersonfr
om Jackson,
Tennessee,i
nabreakthroughmarki
ngoneofthefir
stti
mesi nv
esti
gati
vegeneti
cgenealogyhas
beenusedinCanada.

Poli
cealsosai
dtheyhadchar
gedRodneyNichol
s,81,wi
thmurderi
nconnecti
ont
othecase.
Nichol
s,whonowlivesi
nFlor
ida,
isnowthesubj
ectofanext
radi
ti
onrequest
.

“Today,wecanannouncewehav eprovi
dedaresol
utiontoherf
ami l
yandthecommuni
ti
esin
easter
nOnt ar
iothathav
eliv
edwitht
hisunsolv
edinvesti
gat
ion,
”thedeput
ycommissi
oner
,
MartyKearns,sai
datav i
rt
ualnewsconfer
ence.

Langfordmadethej
ourneytoMontreal
inApri
l1975,
andinv
est
igat
orsnowbeliev
eshestay
ed
wit
hNi chol
sint
hecit
y,butdespi
tepromisest
okeepint
ouchwithherf
amil
y,shenever
ret
urned.

“
Mygrandmot
hersol
devery
thi
ng,shespenteverydi
meshehadhi
ri
ngpr
ivat
einv
est
igat
ors
t
ryi
ngt
of i
ndmyaunt
,”Deni
seChung,Langf
ord’sni
ece,
tol
dCBCNews.

“Iknowthatmygr andmotherconstant
lycal
ledthelocal
FBI…pushi
ngandpushi
ngbecauseshe
didnotwantthem toforgetaboutAuntJewell
,andshedidnotwantt
oeverqui
tsear
chi
ng,and
shedidnotquitsearchi
nguntilshepassedaway .
”

Whenal
ocal
far
merdi
scov
eredherbodyi
ntheNat
ionRi
ver
,pol
i
cesuspect
edt
hev
ict
im had
beent
hrowni
ntot
her
iverf
rom ahi
ghwaybr
idge–butnev
ermadet
hel
i
nkt
oLangf
ord.

Inthefol
lowi
ng47years,eff
ort
sbyauthori
ti
est
oident
if
ythewomanandanypot
enti
al
suspectswer
eunsuccessful
,despi
ter
eleasi
ngf
orensi
cdrawi
ngs,
a3Dfaci
alr
econst
ruct
ion
andappealstot
hepublic.

Event
ual
ly,
invest
igat
orswer
eabl
etoobt
ainaDNAsampl
eandcr
eat
eda“
aver
yef
fect
iveand
cl
ear”pr
ofi
le.

In2019,
thesampl
ewassharedwi
ththeDNADoeProj
ect
,aUSnon-
prof
itor
gani
zat
ionthat
assi
stsl
awenfor
cementbyusi
ngf
orensi
cgeneal
ogyt
ofi
ndDNAmatchesincol
dcases.

“Aswi tht
heover100casesthathavebeenDNADoepr oj
ect
s,thi
swasav erybi
tter
sweet
development,
”BryanWort
ers,avolunt
eerwit
hthegroup,tol
dtheGuardi
an.“Thecruxofwhat
we’dliketobeabletodoi
sgivetheseindi
vi
dual
sandt hesefamil
iesasenseofrestor
ati
ve
j
ustice.Buti
t’
salsoimpor
tantfort
hem tocometotermswi thwhathappenedandtobeableto
heal.
”

Wor t
erssaysthatinvest
igat
ivegroupsl i
keDNADoedonothav eaccesst olar
geDNA
databasesli
ke23andMe.I nst
ead, theyarefor
cedtodrawonsmal lpoolsl
ikeGedMat chProand
FamilyTreeDNA, whichhavefarf ewersamples.I
nvestigat
orswerehelpedbyt hefactt
hat
Langfordwasfrom theUS, whichcont r
ibut
esmostoft heDNAsampl estodatabases.I
ncases
wherev i
cti
msar efrom margi
nalizedgroupsorarerecentimmigrants,t
eamshav ef arl
esstogo
on.

Hepoi ntstothecaseofwomanf oundinamar shyfi

eldneart
heDarl
ingtonnucl
earplanti
n
Bowmanv il
l
e,Ontari
o,i
n2006andanot herinv
olvingawomanwhodi edofcarbonmonoxi de
poisoningfrom hercampstov
ei n2009.“Somewher eoutther
e,t
her
ear etwofamil
ieswhomi ss
theirl
ov edones,
”hesaid.“
We’rewor ki
ngtochanget hat
.”

Thebreakt
hroughi
nLangfor
d’scaseal
socomesami
dashi
fti
nhowt
hesecasesar
eseenby
thepubl
ic,
saidWort
ers.

“Forsolongsocietyhasbeeni
nter
est
edinperpetr
atorswit
haheavyfocusontheperson
commi t
tingt
heseat r
ocit
ies–andsoli
tt
leonthevicti
msandthelovedonesthatt
hey’
v elef
t
behind,
”hesaid.“Jewel
lLangf
ordwasabusinesswoman.Shewasl oved.Shewasreveredby
hercommuni t
yandwhenshewentmi ssing,
thatwasf el
tbyev
eryone.
”

Fordecades,anempt ygr
avewasheldforheri
nTennessee,
wit
hamarkerreading:“
Missing,
butnotfor
gotten.
”Langfordwasret
urnedhomeaft
erpoli
cemadeaposit
iveidenti
fi
cat
ion.Her
grav
emar kernowr eads:
“Final
l
yhomeandatpeace.”