Advances in forensic genealogy have helped Ontario police solve one of their oldest cases. After half a century of investigation, we finally know the identity of the mysterious “Lady of the River Nation”.
Fast forward to May 1975. A dead body is found in the Nation River in Eastern Ontario. All attempts at identification are unsuccessful. Despite the portraits, the three-dimensional facial reconstruction and many appeals to the public, the one called the “Lady of the River Nation” (National River Lady) seems doomed to anonymity for eternity. A real unsolved case, a cold box.
But in 2019, a light shines at the end of the tunnel: a new method of genetic genealogy, which is already used in the United States, is coming to Canada. By inference, “we identify a genealogical filiation with public databases”, explains Frank Crispino, professor and director of the forensic science research group at the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières (UQTR).
The investigation ends in Montreal
Using American DNA databanks, such as the Family Tree, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) recently managed to draw the family tree of the woman nicknamed the “Lady of the River Nation”. The investigation culminated in Montreal, 150 km from where the body was found, in 1975. That year, one person was reported missing. His name: Jewell Parchman Langford.
In April 1975, the 48-year-old left Jackson, Tennessee for Montreal, Quebec. Her family had realized fairly quickly that she was missing because, beloved by all, she had promised to stay in touch.
“She was truly a woman ahead of her time,” retired detective Janice Mulcock told reporters on Wednesday.
Jewell Parchman Langford co-owned a spa with her ex-husband in Jackson, where she served as president of the American Business Women’s Association. “She was a real leader,” added the former detective.
Nearly 50 years after the incident, the investigation led the OPP to Rodney Nichols. The octogenarian is charged with the murder of Jewell Parchman Langford. The two met while living in Montreal. The man, who currently lives in Florida, is the subject of an extradition request for trial.
Ethical questions
This is the first time that the identity of a victim has been found thanks to new methods of genetic genealogy in Ontario, which is quite “original”, notes Frank Crispino.
These methods raise ethical questions, points out the professor. Indeed, individuals themselves provide their genetic information to databases used by police, sometimes just to find out their ancestors, explains Daniel Nadeau, Detective Inspector of the OPP’s Criminal Investigations Department. Of course, these individuals can prevent the police from using their information, but Frank Crispino fears that they are not aware of this.
State databases are highly regulated, while the use of so-called “public” databases is in a “legal vacuum”, affirms the director of the forensic science research group at UQTR. “There is a social debate to be had which seems important to me”, he adds.
“We can see this as saving time, but if we forget the fundamental acts of investigation, I predict that we will have big miscarriages of justice”, warns Frank Crispino. According to the expert, this technology can be a “magnificent tool”, but it must go hand in hand with a use that takes ethical questions into account.
“Beware of technology, of this tree that hides the forest, it is not technology that has made it possible to trace the victim. The forest is the acts of investigation, it is the work of the investigators, ”says the professor.
Genetic genealogy is currently being used to solve other cases in Ontario, reports Daniel Nadeau. While police departments consider using it, Frank Crispino reminds us that “it is not the tool that will revolutionize and that will solve everything”.