FORT WORTH, Texas — Advanced forensic genetic genealogy and re-examined fingerprint evidence have resolved three decades-old cold cases in Tarrant County, identifying a 1986 homicide victim and two long-unidentified decedents recovered in 1986 and 2000, officials with the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office (TCME) announced.
The breakthroughs, conducted in partnership with the Fort Worth Police Department (FWPD) and supported by federal grant funding, have reopened an active murder investigation and prompted a public appeal to locate the next of kin for two newly identified individuals.
1986 Homicide Victim Identified Through Genetic Genealogy
The TCME has conclusively identified a woman found murdered nearly 40 years ago as 36-year-old Brenda Darnell McLerran (Smith), born February 23, 1950.
Early on the morning of February 24, 1986, police discovered McLerran’s body in the 1300 block of Kuroki Street, near Hillside Park in Fort Worth. An autopsy determined she had died from strangulation, but investigators were unable to establish her identity at the time, and the case eventually went cold…