Nearly six decades after a woman was found murdered outside Chicago, authorities have identified her as Martha Bassett, a member of a Native American community from Washington state who had been missing since the 1960s.
Originally from Wapato, Washington, Bassett relocated to the Chicago area in 1960 under the Indian Relocation Act of 1956, a federal policy that encouraged Native Americans to move from reservations to urban centers, according to the Will County Coroner’s Office.
By 1967, Bassett’s family had lost all contact with her. Concerned for her safety, they traveled to the Chicago area to search for her but returned home without any answers—though they never gave up hope of finding her…