Overview
- San Francisco police closed Cheryl Lanier's missing-person case after DNA matched her to a Harris County Jane Doe.
- Authorities say she died in 1976 after jumping from an 18-wheeler on Interstate 10 in Houston.
- Houston police records describe a truck driver who reported an encounter on Sept. 28, 1976, and a hospital death two days later.
- Investigators pursued the cross-state match after a 2025 notice from Harris County and testing by California's state forensic lab.
- Key witnesses have died and some records are missing, which leaves unanswered questions even as her family receives confirmation.