Remains found in 1971 identified as Aberdeen teen missing for 47 years

Cold case investigators say human remains found in southwest Oregon decades ago have been identified as an Aberdeen teen who had been missing for 47 years.

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The remains of 16-year-old Anne Marie Lehman were found in some woods in August of 1971 by a father and son who were traveling along the Redwood Highway in Josephine County, Ore.

At that time, investigators were unable to identify the skeletal remains of the young woman. Her remains were placed in storage as a Jane Doe until August 2004, when cold case detectives began to work on the case.

A Clackamas County, Ore., deputy, also a forensic artist, completed a facial reconstruction and the image was distributed nationally, which brought numerous leads and kept the case active for several more years.

Through forensic analysis of the remains, more information about the Jane Doe was gathered in 2016, and a new forensic drawing of what the unidentified woman may have looked like was again distributed.

The following year, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children funded a study of the case, and in 2018, DNA from the Jane Doe was submitted to the DNA Joe Project, a nonprofit that uses donated funds to analyze DNA.

The analysis eventually led to her being identified as Lehman by matching DNA from her sister.

Lehman would have turned 65 this year.

Authorities say she is believed to have disappeared from Aberdeen in the winter or spring of 1971.  Her cause and manner of death, and how she ended up in Josephine County, are not known.

Anyone who has information about Lehman and her activities in 1970 and 1971 is asked to contact Detective Ken Selig at the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office at 541-474-5123 and reference case 71-940.