MEMPHIS, Tenn. ( WREG ) — DNA has linked human remains discovered more than 20 years ago in California to a Memphis woman last seen by family in 1981, according to authorities.
But investigators in California and Tennessee still want to know what happened to Catherine Parker-Johnson and say her case is an active homicide investigation.
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The remains were found during construction on Aug. 29, 2001, in Redondo Beach, California, but police there were not able to identify them at the time.
The case was reopened in 2019 with help from the nonprofit DNA Doe Foundation, which used DNA evidence to link the body to the victim’s daughter and sister in Memphis, Redondo Beach Police said. Those relatives identified her by name in March 2023.
Parker-Johnson had not been reported missing to authorities. Family members say they last saw her in Memphis in May 1981, when she returned home to see her children.
The last record of any contact with Parker-Johnson was on August 31, 1981, in Lennox, California.