Overview
- Construction workers found skeletal remains in a vacant lot on Castleberry Lane in May 1989 and a bullet recovered from the skull showed the death was a homicide.
- Law enforcement submitted preserved evidence for forensic genetic genealogy after receiving a federal grant in 2024, and investigative genealogists developed a roughly 99% match in late 2025.
- Police formally confirmed the victim as Sonya Alice Langan in May 2026 and contacted surviving relatives who provided DNA to verify the identification.
- Family members told investigators Langan left home around 1982 at about 17 or 18 years old and was never formally reported missing, a gap that hindered earlier leads.
- Detectives say the case remains open and are asking anyone with information to contact the Bullhead City Police Department, and the result highlights how grant-funded genealogy is helping solve long-unsolved cases and give families closure.