Coroner, buoyed by recent DNA identification of John Wayne Gacy victim, perseveres in trying to identify young Black woman found slain in Illinois in 1976

She’s known to searchers as Jane Seneca Doe.

But now, she might have a few other names as clues. Calhoun. Harris.

For years, Grundy County, Illinois, Deputy Chief Coroner Brandon Johnson has been trying to find out what happened to a young woman found dumped in a ditch decades ago. Thought to be between 15 and 27 years old, the African American victim was found shot in the head off a highway in Seneca on Oct. 2, 1976.

By using DNA genealogy, Johnson has gathered some new leads. But he also faces more questions.

Through the help of genealogical researchers, Johnson knows her family might have been from Selma, Alabama, and surnames could have included Calhoun or Harris. One branch of the family lived in Ohio, another in Michigan.

And she may have had siblings who did not know she even existed.

In trying to find