DNA Doe Project identifies Jane Doe found in New Mexico in 2022
Remains identified as woman who’d vanished six weeks prior
Los Lunas, NM – Three years after her body was discovered, Los Lunas Jane Doe has been identified as 56-year-old Lisa Marie Vernon. Vernon was reported missing after disappearing from nearby Albuquerque; she had last been seen on 4 June 2022, six weeks before her body was found under a tree on a Los Lunas property.
Lisa Marie Vernon
On July 16, 2022, the remains of a woman were located on private property in Los Lunas, New Mexico. Found with her was a backpack which contained clothes, a water bottle, and a diary, although the diary did not contain any writings that assisted in her identification. Due to the decomposed nature of the remains, authorities were unable to estimate her age or determine her race.
The Valencia County Sheriff’s Office later brought this case to the DNA Doe Project, whose expert volunteer investigative genetic genealogists work pro bono to identify Jane and John Does. Soon after the genealogy research on the case commenced, the family tree of the unidentified woman began to come into focus.
“It didn’t take us long to figure out that Los Lunas Jane Doe had connections to both Illinois and Tennessee,” said team co-leader Lisa Ivany. “However, we could also tell that she likely had recent ancestors from outside the US, especially as a number of her DNA matches were from Europe.”
A team worked on this case for two and a half months, building a tree that grew to comprise thousands of people. Eventually, a new DNA match allowed the team to home in on a woman who’d moved from Illinois to New Mexico. They then found out that she had a daughter named Lisa Marie Vernon, and before long they made a shocking discovery – the New Mexico Department of Public Safety listed Vernon as a missing person, as she had not been seen since June 2022.
Shortly afterwards, with the genealogical evidence and the timing of her disappearance lining up, Vernon was presented to the Valencia County Sheriff’s Office as a possible candidate. Further DNA testing later confirmed that Lisa Marie Vernon was, in fact, the woman formerly known only as Los Lunas Jane Doe.
“Investigative genetic genealogy is a powerful tool,” said team co-leader Emily Bill. “Even though the DNA matches we had were from elsewhere, our research led us all the way to New Mexico and then to Lisa herself.”
The DNA Doe Project is grateful to the groups and individuals who helped solve this case: the Valencia County Sheriff’s Office, who entrusted us with this case; Bode Technology for DNA extraction; Genologue for sequencing; Astrea Forensics for bioinformatics; GEDmatch Pro, DNA Justice and FamilyTreeDNA for providing their databases; Audiochuck for their support; our generous donors who joined our mission and contributed to this case; and the DNA Doe Project’s dedicated teams of volunteer investigative genetic genealogists who work tirelessly to bring all our Jane and John Does home.
Description:
On July 16, 2022, the remains of a woman were located on private property in Los Lunas, New Mexico. Her backpack contained clothes, a water bottle, and a diary, although the diary did not contain any writings that assisted in her identification. Due to the decomposed nature of the remains, authorities were unable to estimate her age or determine her race.
NamUs ID:
UP101157
Date Body Found:
7/16/2022
Race:
Uncertain
Sex:
Female
Estimated Age:
Unknown
Estimated PMI:
Unknown
Agency of Jurisdiction:
Valencia County Sheriff’s Office
D/Sgt Ben Lankasky
505-388-8072
ben.lankasky@co.valencia.nm.us
More Information:
https://www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/101157/details
https://unidentified-awareness.fandom.com/wiki/Valencia_County_Jane_Doe
Status:
Identified
Last Updated: October 24, 2025
