Woman Missing Since 1974 Identified After Remainsโ Found in Oregon Mountains
Tigard, OR – Marion McWhort, whoโ vanished in 1974 at ageโฃ 21, has been identified after herโค remains were discovered in Linn โขCounty, Oregon, authorities announced. the breakthrough came after a DNA comparison with her sister,โ valerie Nagle, who submitted herโ genetic details to a genealogy website in hopes of โfinding answers about Marion’s disappearance.
McWhort was last seen at โa shopping center in Tigard, a suburb ofโ Portland.For decades, her sister Valerie, who was โคeleven years old when Marion disappeared,โฃ tirelessly searched for clues, scouring โคdatabases of unidentified individuals. In June of โฃthis year, Oregon police โขcontacted Valerie requesting a DNA comparison โขwith remains found โฃnear a stream in a โคmountain โขrange inโค 1976, known as the “Swamp Mountain Jane Doe” case.โ
“I was veryโ surprised and happy that they called,” Valerie Nagle told the โAssociated Press.
DNAโ testing confirmed the remains were those of Marion McWhort. linn County police are โคnow investigating โคthe circumstances surrounding her death.Forensicโ anthropologist Haileyโ Collord-Stalder stated that McWhort “probably didโข not voluntarily disappear.”
“This was one of our oldest cases where we lackedโ the identity of remains,” said Collord-Stalder. “I think โit shows that no matter how long it โwill take without us finding โขthe identity of a dead person, we will not โgive up the attempts to find out who it is.”