Overview
- The Kern County Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday that the long‑unnamed 1978 Jane Doe has been identified as Michelle Louise Collier, who was 15 when she disappeared.
- Investigators say a tractor operator unearthed skeletal remains in a shallow grave near South Wheeler Ridge Road on June 21, 1978, and an autopsy at the time ruled the death a homicide.
- A 2007 exhumation produced DNA that was later used with forensic investigative genetic genealogy and work by the Texas lab Othram to find relatives and confirm the match in October 2025.
- Family members spoke at the announcement and said the identification allowed them to bring Collier home after remains were returned to the family in April 2026, giving relatives long‑awaited closure.
- The case has moved from an anonymous cold file into an active homicide investigation, no suspects have been publicly named, and detectives are asking anyone with information to contact the Kern County Sheriff’s Office.