After more than a decade of uncertainty, a Napa woman who vanished without a trace has finally been identified through cutting-edge DNA technology. The skeletal remains discovered in a thicket of blackberry bushes near Redding in 2013 belong to Velma Louise Silva Lee, who was born in 1936 and had been missing for years before her death.
The breakthrough came not from traditional detective work, but from forensic genetic genealogy—a revolutionary technique that's reshaping how law enforcement solves cold cases. According to ABC7 News, authorities worked with Othram, a Texas-based forensic laboratory, to develop a comprehensive DNA profile from the remains and compare it against genealogical databases. This identification marks the 70th case in California where officials have publicly identified an individual using technology developed by Othram.
A Discovery Behind the Wildlife Building
The story began on March 11, 2013, when cleanup workers stumbled upon a human skull near the Anderson-Cottonwood Irrigation District canal behind the Department of Fish and Wildlife building near the Locust Street Bridge in Redding. As reported by Redheaded Blackbelt, forensic anthropologists from California State University, Chico's Human Identification Lab were called in to assist with recovery. Over the following days, they recovered most of the woman's skeletal remains along with several items of clothing and personal effects, all hidden by thick brush that investigators estimated had concealed the body for several years.
Initial forensic analysis determined the remains belonged to a woman likely between 4'10" and 5'4" tall, aged somewhere between 35 and 70 years old. According to KRCTV, the area where Lee's remains were found was frequented by transients, and remains of two other people had been discovered in the same vicinity during that time frame.
When Traditional Methods Failed
Despite entering Lee's DNA into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), investigators hit dead ends for over a decade. No matches surfaced in missing persons databases—largely because Lee had never been officially reported missing. The case sat cold until 2023, when the Shasta County Coroner's Office decided to partner with Othram for advanced forensic genetic genealogy testing.
"We built that DNA profile from the skeletal remains. It was uploaded to genealogy databases where individuals have consented to allow law enforcement to use their information to solve crimes," Colby Laysone of Othram explained to ABC7 News. Using Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing, Othram built a comprehensive DNA profile and uploaded it to the FamilyTreeDNA database, where genetic genealogists began constructing family trees to identify possible relatives.
The Private Investigator Who Couldn't Find Her
The genealogical research pointed to a woman named Velma Louise Silva Lee of Napa, born in 1936—someone who had never appeared in any missing persons databases. On July 23, 2025, investigators contacted Lee's much younger half-sister, who recalled hearing Velma's name but had little knowledge of her life. According to The Press Democrat, other relatives confirmed Lee's identity and provided information about her children.
When a Redding Police Department detective contacted Lee's son on July 25, 2025, a heartbreaking family history emerged. The son explained that after many years without contact from his mother, the family had hired a private investigator to search for her. As reported by SFGATE, the investigator tracked Lee's whereabouts until approximately 2003-2004 but could find no proof of life after that period. The family eventually assumed she had passed away and had her declared legally deceased.
Despite the shock of learning his mother's remains may have been located in Redding, the son provided a DNA sample for direct comparison. On September 15, 2025, Othram officially confirmed the identification.
Part of a Growing Movement to Restore Names
Lee's identification is part of the Project Doe Initiative within the Shasta County Coroner's Office, an interagency task force devoted to giving names back to long-term unidentified decedents. "Restoring a name to the unidentified is a matter of dignity, justice, and human rights," the Shasta County Sheriff's Office stated in their announcement, as quoted by The Press Democrat. "This identification not only brings long-awaited answers to Velma's family but also reaffirms the commitment of our local and interstate forensic and investigative professionals to ensuring that no one remains nameless."
The crisis of unidentified remains is more severe than many realize. According to SF Chronicle, at least 15,000 Jane and John Does lie scattered in pauper's graves and morgues across the United States in what forensic experts deem a "silent mass disaster." Nearly 20% of those unnamed remains are in California.
"There are tens of thousands of unidentified people whose remains are sitting in morgues are sitting on shelves, waiting to be identified, stories to be closed, families to be mended," Laysone told ABC7 News. "Othram is so grateful to have a part in any of these cases."
A Powerful Tool Solving California's Cold Cases
The success of forensic genetic genealogy in Lee's case is part of a broader trend transforming cold case investigations across California. In April 2025, ABC7 News reported that Othram had solved five California cold cases in just 30 days, including the 1976 murder of Karen Percifield in Aptos. The technology works by examining far more genetic markers than traditional DNA testing—while conventional methods look at 20-24 markers suitable for identifying parent-child or sibling relationships, forensic genetic genealogy sequences entire genomes and compares them against databases of people who have consented to law enforcement searches.
The technique has proven especially valuable for cases involving degraded remains where traditional DNA testing fails. According to SF Chronicle, Othram helped identify half a dozen Northern California cases in just over a month this year, including 13-year-old Laura O'Malley missing since 1975, Robert Michael Ream found in Santa Rosa, and Zania Williams who disappeared in 2000.
The Shasta County Coroner's Office is now working with Lee's family to lay her to rest, finally providing closure to a mystery that spanned more than a decade. The analysis and confirmatory tests were performed by Othram at almost no cost to the Sheriff's Office, with funding provided by NamUs, a national program that assists the criminal justice community with missing and unidentified persons cases.
