Case Spotlight: Midtown Jane Doe Identified Through DNA Sequencing Performed at Astrea Forensics
In early 2024, a decades-old mystery in New York City came one step closer to resolution — and our lab was honored to play a role.
The case involved a young woman whose skeletal remains were discovered in 2003 beneath a building on West 46th Street in Manhattan. She had no name, no known origin, and no family to claim her. For more than 20 years, she was known only as “Midtown Jane Doe.”
Thanks to a renewed investigation by the NYPD Cold Case Squad and the use of advanced laboratory techniques like next-generation DNA sequencing — she was finally identified as Patricia Kathleen McGlone, a 16-year-old who went missing from Brooklyn in 1969.
This type of wet lab work is technically challenging and often represents a bottleneck in cold case efforts. In this instance, our SNP data provided the agency allowed forensic genealogists to build out a family tree and, eventually, confirm Patricia's identity.
WHY IT MATTERS
For our team, this case reinforces the profound impact of persevering in the lab — even when the bone sample is decades old and severely degraded. It also highlights the importance of collaboration between laboratory scientists, detectives, non-profits, and genealogists.
Although we were not involved in the genealogy or identification process itself, we are proud that our wet lab methods contributed to restoring Patricia's name and opening the door to renewed investigative leads in her unsolved homicide.
Read more about it here: www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/true-crime-mystery-murder-the-scene-new-york-1235156741/