After 29 years, the true identity of Ina Jane Doe is now known but what happened from the time she left home until her head was located near Rend Lake still remains a mystery.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department and Redgrave Research Forensic Services announced on Friday that ‘Ina Jane Doe’ is actually Susan Lund who was last seen by her family on Christmas Eve 1992 when she reportedly left her family home in Clarksville, Tennessee to walk to a local grocery store.
Her husband reported her missing soon after. A multi-agency search was conducted over several months. While the official missing person case was closed, Sue’s family did not stop looking for her. She was the mother of three young children under the age of six and was pregnant at the time of her disappearance.
At the same time on January 27th, 1993, near Ina, the head of a white female was discovered on the side of a wooded roadway within Wayne Fitzgerrell State Park. The case went ‘cold’ until February 2021 when Dr. Amy Michael (Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of New Hampshire) approached Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office to offer a reexamination of the case using updated forensic methods. Writer and researcher Laurah Norton collaborated with Dr. Michael on the reanalysis and archival research. It was determined that the woman likely did not appear significantly asymmetrical during life as originally thought. Following Dr. Michael’s reanalysis, a new forensic image was created by artist Carl Koppelman.
Simultaneous to this new analysis, samples from Ina Jane Doe’s remains were sent to Astrea Forensics, a laboratory in Santa Cruz, California, for the purpose of creating a DNA profile suitable for utilizing forensic genetic genealogy. A DNA profile was provided to Redgrave Research Forensic Services, a genealogy company in Massachusetts, who then uploaded the data file to GEDmatch on February 3rd.
Redgrave’s genealogy team arrived at a potential match within a day of beginning to research the DNA matches. The potential ID was passed to law enforcement who then followed up with the family members of Susan Lund. A confirmatory DNA sample was provided by a sibling for direct comparison to Ina Jane Doe.
On March 6th it was confirmed via one-to-one comparison that the identity of Ina Jane Doe is Susan Lund.
The collaborating investigators, scientists, and genealogists are extending their deepest sympathies to Sue’s family and friends.
Any information about the actions and/or whereabouts of Susan Lund on or following December 24, 1992, should be directed to Detective Captain Bobby Wallace at the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office at (618) 244-8004 or email bwallace@jeffil.us.
