Smith County Sheriff identifies 1985 cold case victim

TYLER  — On Tuesday, Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith announced that through DNA testing, skeletal remains discovered in 1985 had been identified as Sindy Gina Crow, a 27-year-old from the Dallas-Fort Worth area. According to our news partner KETK, a mowing crew discovered the skeletal remains in a brush-covered gully 75 feet from I-20 east of Highway 69 in October 1985. The crew then contacted the Lindale Police Department who got in touch with the Smith County Sheriff’s Office. During a search of the area, officials reportedly found a lady’s shirt, earrings and a watch.

The remains were then reportedly taken to the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences in Dallas for an autopsy. There, officials believed the body belonged to a white or Hispanic female approximately 25 years of age with reddish-brown hair tied in a ponytail. They estimated she was between 5 feet 5 inches – 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighed around 110-125 pounds. Forensics believed, due to the condition the remains were found, they had been in the location for nearly 12-15 months and had been “purposely concealed.” The case went cold for nearly 40 years after multiple leads all failed to identify the female. In 2021, the sheriff’s office partnered with the DNA Doe Project (DDP) for assistance in identifying the Jane Doe.

The DDP is a national nonprofit organization that partners with law enforcement agencies to identify John and Jane Does using investigative genetic genealogy. The DDP worked with specialty labs and produced a DNA profile that was then uploaded to ancestry databases.

DDP said 15 volunteer investigative genetic genealogists worked together on a weekend in October 2023 and analyzed the DNA matches to the Jane Doe and built her family tree.

“We happened to be working together in person for this case and, as the night wore on, it felt like we couldn’t take a break until we were confident she was our candidate,” team member Emily Bill said. “Ultimately, we returned to the same conclusion again and again, and we all went to bed that night knowing Gina was our Smith County Jane Doe.”

In November 2023, the DDP notified Smith County Detective David Turner, who was assigned to the case back in 1985, of the possible match relating to a white female from the Dallas Fort Worth Area.

Officials said the victim had married in January 1984 and had a child in July of that year. They also discovered the daughter to be living in Alabama and with the help of the Fort Payne Police Department, investigators were able to obtain DNA from the daughter.

“Our team was able to build the family trees of matching DNA relatives,” Rhonda Kevorkian, with the DNA Doe Project, said. “Common ancestors were found amongst them suggesting that these ancestors were also in the tree of our unidentified person.”

After a positive confirmation, the sheriff’s office confirmed the daughter’s DNA to be a positive match to the Jane Doe and identified the victim as Sindy Gina Crow.

The sheriff’s office said on Tuesday that the next step would be to have a proper burial, however the cause of Crow’s death was not released.

Turner spoke during the press release thanking the DDP for their hard work.

“I’ve always said before I passed through the gates I wanted to identify her,” Turner said. “Thank goodness to the DNA Doe Project. I can’t thank them enough.”