Mary Edith Silvani
How Volunteer Sleuths Identified a Hiker and Her Killer After 36 Years, by Heather Murphy, “The New York Times” – What does it actually take to identify a person through genetic genealogy? Wading through infidelities and pornography
Thanks to DNA sleuths, a Jane Doe killed 37 years ago might finally get a headstone with her name on it, by Steve Almasy and Chris Boyette, “CNN” – For 37 years the woman’s remains have been in a lonely, nameless grave at Our Mother of Sorrows Catholic Cemetery in Reno, Nevada.With the help of DNA sleuths, who used samples from the crime scene, the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office was able in the past year to find some closure, identifying the victim and the suspect, whose names they announced Tuesday
How DNA solved a decades-old case of woman found murdered near Lake Tahoe, by Marcella Corona, “Reno Gazette Journal” – On Tuesday, Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam announced that a woman known only as “Sheep’s Flat Jane Doe” has been identified as Mary Silvani, who was 33 when she was shot to death in 1982 off Mt. Rose Highway
DNA Doe Project, Identifinders and Nevada Detectives Wrap IDs of Cold Case Victim, Killer, by Seth Augenstein, “Forensic Magazine” – The “Sheep’s Flat Jane Doe” was an unidentified woman who was found raped and shot dead on a Nevada hiking trail near Lake Tahoe in the summer of 1982. Now, forensic genealogy and a significant amount of detective work has resulted in an identity of the woman—and that of her killer, who killed himself in a California jail after killing potentially four more people in a similar fashion
New DNA information in 1982 cold case killing at Lake Tahoe; woman and suspect identified, by News 4 & Fox 11 Digital Team, “News 4” — Washoe County homicide detectives have uncovered new DNA information in their cold case investigation into the shooting death of a woman found near Lake Tahoe in 1982. The woman has been identified as Mary Edith Silvani who was 33 years old at the time of her death. The suspect has also been identified as James Richard Curry, who died in January 1983.
Sheep’s Flat Jane Doe: DNA identifies victim, suspect in 1982 killing, by Brett McGinness, Sam Gross and Marcella Corona, “Reno Gazette-Journal” — According to DNA testing, the Sheep’s Flat Jane Doe has been identified as Mary Edith Silvani, who was born on Sept. 29, 1948. Her parents, John and Blanche Silvani, lived in Detroit. The Detroit Police Department provided fingerprints from Mary Silvani from a 1974 misdemeanor arrest. The prints were a match with Jane Doe
How Volunteer Sleuths Identified a Hiker and Her Killer After 36 Years, by Heather Murphy, “The New York Times” — On Tuesday, more than 36 years after she died, the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office announced her name: Mary Edith Silvani, born Sept. 29, 1948. Detectives also believe they now know who killed her. These two puzzles of identity were solved with genetic genealogy, a technique that puts a name to DNA with the help of relatives on genealogy sites. Over the past year, the method has been used to advance dozens of cold cases. This is the first time officials have announced in one fell swoop that the technique has been used to identify an adult victim’s body as well as the person’s killer.
‘Sheep’s Flat Jane Doe’ gravesite gets new marker: ‘She was not lost to God’, by Marcella Corona, “Reno Gazette-Journal” — Mary Silvani was lost to her family and friends for 37 years. Her burial site remained unmarked for decades at a cemetery in northwest Reno. For a while, the only thing marking her grave was a blue water utility flag. The Diocese of Reno recently donated a granite marker with Mary’s name carved at the top. It’s decorated with budding rose vines that twist up the sides, and at the bottom, there’s a heartfelt message crafted by two of her remaining relatives. The message reads: “Our lost angel has been taken to heaven. You have been found and will never be lost again.”
