The body of an unidentified teenager found in the Mississippi River near Clinton, Iowa, more than 50 years ago was recently identified as a Waukegan resident, according to a Clinton County sheriff’s office news release.
Cheryl Lynn Edwards was positively identified as the missing teen and homicide victim through forensic genealogy, according to the release.
Responding to a report of a dead teen in the Mississippi River north of Clinton on April 11, 1975, sheriff’s deputies found the girl, but she could not be identified, the release said. After an autopsy, the death was ruled a homicide.
Edwards died of a gunshot wound to the head, according to a story in Tuesday’s Des Moines Register. She was 10 weeks’ pregnant at the time of her death, the story said.
Investigators continued to try to identify the body, but were unable to determine who she was until “advances in DNA technology provided a new opportunity to reexamine the evidence,” according to the release.
Edwards’ parents were the late Bernice and Leonard Edwards, previously of Waukegan, the release said. After identifying Edwards, police learned the girl’s family had searched for her in the months after she went missing. Surviving family members have been notified of her identification.
Before her disappearance, Edwards was promoted from the former Jefferson Junior High — now John Lewis Middle School — to Waukegan High School, where she started as a freshman in September of 1974.
More Top Picks Wearable Tech
Nick Alatzakis, the communications director for Waukegan Community Unit School District 60, said records show her parents withdrew her from the school in early January 1975.
Waukegan police Deputy Chief Craig Neal said Tuesday it is likely Edwards’ parents continued to search for her into early 1975, but eventually lost hope.
“Knowing Miss Edwards was withdrawn from school in January, it shows they may have exhausted all of their local means of trying to locate her,” he said.
Neal said Waukegan police do not have any evidence of a missing person’s report being filed at the time of Edwards’ disappearance. Precise databases used today were not available at the time she went missing, he said.
Advances in technology made it possible for the homicide investigation to proceed, and the Clinton County sheriff’s office is actively trying to gather evidence to determine who was responsible for Edwards’ death.
The Clinton County sheriff’s office, the Waukegan Police Department and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigations are seeking the public’s help with any information regarding Edwards’ life, disappearance and death.
Lt. Matt Owen of the Clinton County sheriff’s office said Tuesday the investigation into Edwards’ death is ongoing and no further information will be released at this time.
Those who may have information about Edwards are asked to contact the Clinton County sheriff’s office at 563-212-9211, Option 2, Clinton County Crime Stoppers with the P2Tips App, online at P3tips.com, or email the Iowa Division of Public Safety at [email protected].