Mary Alice Maloney Obituary, Death; – A nonprofit organization has successfully identified a woman whose remains were discovered 18 years ago in La Vergne, Tennessee.
The DNA Doe Project, a nonprofit dedicated to identifying victims and reuniting them with their families and communities, has confirmed the identity of the woman as 40-year-old Mary Alice Maloney. Originally from Connecticut, she had been residing in the Nashville area prior to her disappearance.
On November 14, 2007, a police officer found Maloney’s body in a wooded region of La Vergne. Investigators located jewelry at the scene but no clothing, estimating that she had died in the spring or summer of 2007.
After exhausting all leads, the La Vergne Police Department contacted the DNA Doe Project for assistance. Despite facing difficulties due to degraded DNA, a profile was successfully created and uploaded to GEDmatch Pro and FamilyTreeDNA.com.
“Our work is frequently hindered by the limited number of individuals who have uploaded their DNA profiles to the public databases available for our cases,” stated Jenny Lecus, the team leader at the DNA Doe Project.
In April 2021, a new DNA match provided a significant breakthrough. This match, identified as a distant cousin, enabled the team to trace Maloney’s ancestry back to Puerto Rico and African American heritage.
Further investigation confirmed that Maloney had been living in Nashville until 2007. This finding verified her identity as the individual previously referred to as La Vergne Jane Doe.
The DNA Doe Project expressed gratitude to the La Vergne Police Department, the University of North Texas, HudsonAlpha Discovery, Kevin Lord, GEDmatch Pro, FamilyTreeDNA, and their committed teams for their invaluable contributions in resolving the case.
