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Jane Doe Body Found In Lake Berryessa Identified

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Jul 1, 2009 11:34 pm US/Pacific

Jane Doe Body Found In Lake Berryessa Identified

CBS 5 CrimeWatch

LAKE BERRYESSA (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 1: The sculpted face of the murder victim and a photo of the victim, identified as Johnethel McGehee.
Napa Co. Sheriff's Dept.

The identity of a murder victim whose remains were found at Lake Berryessa in Napa County is no longer a mystery thanks to an artist's rendering of her head and shoulders.

Authorities said Wednesday that a woman had contacted police after recognizing the bust as that of her mother, 47-year-old Johnethel McGehee of Oakland.

Dental records confirmed the identification, but investigators were not disclosing how the woman died.

Napa County authorities believe McGehee was killed between six months to a year before her remains were found in May.

A sheriff's department K-9 patrol officer found the victim's leg bone off state Highway 128 in Napa County near the Monticello Dam on May 10, Detective Todd Hancock said.

"He didn't identify it immediately but he was very suspicious. An expert identified it as a leg bone," Hancock said.

The rest of the woman's remains were found above ground nearby.

The sheriff's department said the victim as depicted in the facial reconstruction had several physical and external features that made her very identifiable.

The 3-D bust was made by Mill Valley forensic artist Gloria Nusse, who relied on the depth of tissue at certain parts of McGehee's skull to approximate her features.

Investigators had searched missing persons databases with no luck before the bust was unveiled June 23. McGehee's adult daughter came forward the same day.

McGehee had ties to San Francisco and East Bay cities, Sheriff's Lt. Tracey Stuart said, but the daughter did not provide any information about how or why her mother went to Lake Berryessa.

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