Missing Minnesota woman ID’d as cold case victim

(FOX 9) - After nearly 30 years the remains of a young Minnesotan woman who went missing in 1993 have been identified.

The Ottawa County, Michigan, cold case team announced Friday the identity of a young woman who has been unidentified since a 1994 homicide. Shelly Rae Christian was 29-years-old when she went missing from Minnesota in 1993. DNA samples taken from the family of Shelly Kephart (Christian) were compared to the DNA profile obtained from the 1994 homicide victim, "Matilda," who was positively identified.

Since February of 2021 the team worked on the investigation, partnering with the DNA Doe Project, who specializes in forensic genealogy.

In September of 2021 detectives Sara Fillman and Allison Anderson traveled to Minnesota to contact the family.