After 44 years, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) has finally identified a homicide victim who was found near the Las Vegas, Nevada Strip in 1979. Authorities made the announcement on Tuesday, December 19, 2023.
The victim, previously unidentified and referred to as “Sahara Sue Doe,” was revealed to be Gwenn Marie Story, a teenager from Colerain Township, Ohio. The identification, a significant breakthrough in a case that had stumped investigators for over four decades, was made possible by recent advancements in DNA testing technology.
Story’s body was discovered by a passerby in a vacant lot close to the northern part of the Las Vegas Strip, near where the Strat Hotel is now situated, in August 1979. The subsequent autopsy indicated homicide, but the absence of an identity left the case unresolved.
The critical identification work was conducted by Othram, a Texas-based laboratory specializing in forensic genealogy. By constructing a comprehensive DNA profile of the victim, Othram located potential relatives. Their DNA samples ultimately confirmed Story’s identity.
The LVMPD disclosed that Story had departed from her Cincinnati, Ohio, home in the summer of 1979 with two male friends from the area, with the mission to locate her biological father in California. Story’s family, having lost communication with her, later learned from her friends upon their return to Ohio in August 1979 that Story was left in Las Vegas.
This revelation has now shifted the focus of the investigation to these two men and their possible role in Story’s demise. The LVMPD, aided by records from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, is diligently pursuing this lead, exploring all possible connections to Story’s death.