For more than three decades, investigators have searched for the identity of a woman whose remains were discovered in two separate Minnesota lakes. Now, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office, and the DNA Doe Project announce that she has finally been identified as 27-year-old Denise Elaine Hartley. Hartley, a native of Ohio, had moved from Columbus to St. Paul shortly before her disappearance.
On June 12, 1993, the head of a woman was discovered floating near the shore of Bone Lake in New Scandia Township, Minnesota. Shortly afterwards, a foot was located on the bank of Pig’s Eye Lake, approximately 20 miles southwest in St. Paul. Forensic analysis confirmed that these remains belonged to the same individual—a Caucasian woman estimated to be between 30 and 65 years old, with dark brown spiky hair, brown eyes, and triple-pierced ears.
With no clues as to her identity, she became known as Bone Lake Jane Doe. Decades later, the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office brought the case to the DNA Doe Project, a non-profit whose expert investigative genetic genealogists work pro bono to identify John and Jane Does. While a separate genealogy team had spent five years working the case, the woman’s identity had remained elusive. A DNA profile was subsequently generated by Tetracore, Inc., who also provided their services pro bono, and by February 2026 the case was ready to launch…