Body Parts Found in 2 Minnesota Lakes in 1993 Finally Identified

Two Lakes. Forty Miles. No Name for 33 Years.

In June 1993, investigators in Washington County, Minnesota, found a severed human head near the shoreline of Bone Lake in Scandia. The next day, a foot was recovered at Pig’s Eye Lake in St. Paul - 40 miles away.

There was no missing persons report for the woman. The police sketch did not match any known case. The investigation stayed open, but it stayed cold. For 33 years, she was known only as a Jane Doe.

On June 11, 2026, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office announced her name: Denise Elaine Sexton Hartley, 27 years old, last known to be in St. Paul in 1993.

The Youngest of Fifteen Siblings

Denise Hartley was the youngest of 15 siblings, according to CBS Minnesota. She had a daughter - the same daughter who, more than three decades later, provided the DNA sample that finally gave her mother back her name.

Investigators had attempted multiple rounds of DNA testing over the years, but the condition of the remains made identification difficult. None of the earlier attempts produced a match. The case was submitted to the DNA Doe Project, a nonprofit that uses investigative genetic genealogy to identify unidentified remains. The technology pointed to a second cousin, then to Hartley’s daughter. Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigators confirmed the match.

‘Somebody obviously went to great lengths to make sure that Denise’s name was taken from her,’ said Traci Onders of the DNA Doe Project, according to CBS Minnesota. ‘It was very important to us to be able to give her her name back and give her family an answer.’

No Missing Report. No Leads. No Arrest.

Because no missing persons report had ever been filed for Hartley, investigators had nothing to connect the 1993 remains to a specific individual when the case first opened. The police sketch produced from the physical evidence did not resemble earlier photos of Hartley, leaving the case without an entry point for identification.

In 2024, investigators renewed their efforts using updated forensic genealogy technology - the same approach that has helped solve dozens of long-cold Jane Doe cases in recent years. The new testing created the family tree pathways that eventually led to Hartley’s daughter and a confirmed DNA match.

‘Cases like this stay with you,’ said Washington County Sheriff’s Detective Clayton Evens, the lead investigator, in a statement reported by Fox 9. ‘Even after decades, there’s always hope that one day the science will catch up to the questions that couldn’t be answered at the time, and it finally did.’

The Killer Is Still Unknown

The identification of Hartley’s remains answers one question that went unanswered for 33 years. It does not answer the others.

Investigators say they do not yet know the manner or cause of Hartley’s death. No one has been arrested in connection with her killing. The Washington County Sheriff’s Office is now asking anyone who knew Denise Hartley in St. Paul in 1993 - friends, acquaintances, anyone who may have known who she spent time with - to contact the department at 651-430-7850.

‘We’re trying to make connection with any acquaintance, family member, friend, anyone we can find that had some interaction with her life,’ Detective Evens said. ‘It would be a huge sigh of relief, not just for me, but for our entire team.’

For her daughter, who grew up without answers and then provided the one piece of evidence that changed everything, the announcement is only the beginning of what investigators hope comes next.

References: Human remains found in 2 Twin Cities lakes 33 years ago identified as Denise Hartley | MN cold case victim identified more than 30 years later | Minnesota Bone Lake Jane Doe identified after 33 years | Human remains found at Twin Cities lakes in 1993 identified as missing woman