FOND DU LAC COUNTY (NBC 26) — A young woman whose remains were found by hunters in southeast Fond du Lac County back in 2008 has finally been identified by authorities.
For years, she was only known as Jane Doe. On Tuesday, Fond du Lac County Sheriff Ryan Waldschmidt announced that the remains have been identified as Amy Marie Yeary of Rockford, Ill.
The Sheriff said Amy would have been 18 years old at the time of her death. On November 23, 2008, three hunters reported they had found the remains of a decomposed body on private property in a shallow creek on Skyline Drive in the town of Ashford in southeastern Fond du Lac County.
Yeary's case had been under investigation for years. Authorities laid her to rest in Cattaraugus Cemetery in 2011, but her body was exhumed in 2018 to obtain bone, tooth and hair samples that underwent new forms of forensic analysis that didn't exist in 2008, the sheriff said.
Investigators used genealogy research to identify direct relations to Yeary. DNA samples from those relations led investigators to confirm Yeary's identity.
While speaking with Yeary's mother, detectives learned that in the late summer of 2008, Yeary called her mother asking for a ride home from Beloit, but her mother was unable to accommodate her request. Her family never heard from her again.
It's still unclear exactly how Yeary died. Sheriff Waldschmidt says investigators are still waiting on results from other forensic tests still being performed, with the hopes of unveiling new evidence in the case.
Sheriff Waldschmidt said Tuesday that Yeary was a victim of human sex trafficking and was often transient. The Sheriff said she spent time in the areas of Chicago, Milwaukee and Beloit in the weeks preceding her death.
Sheriff Waldschmidt is asking anyone with information on Yeary or her whereabouts before her death to call Detective Ryan Murphy at 920-929-3380 or leave an anonymous message on the tipline at 920-906-4777.
