Body of woman found 33 years ago in Georgia identified as missing Michigan teen
Stacey Lyn Chahorski last talked to her mother in September 1988. (National Missing and Unidentified Persons System)
DADE COUNTY, Ga. - After a decades-long investigation, law enforcement officials have identified the body of a woman in Georgia's Dade County as being a missing Michigan teenager.
On the afternoon of Dec. 16, 1988, deputies with the Dade County Sheriff's Office and agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation were called to the northbound lane of Intestate 59 after reports of a body. At the scene, 5 miles from the Alabama state line, investigators found the body of an unidentified woman who had been killed.
For years, agents worked to identify the victim - using composite drawings, clay renderings, and a DNA profile to try to figure out what she looked like and who she was.
In 2015, officials say the GBI contacted the FBI about possibly using a new type of geneology investigation which had been known to help solve other cold cases connected to homicides.
With this new investigation, law enforcement had a break through. Using the technology, officials identified the body as that of Stacey Lyn Chahorski, a 19-year-old from Norton Shores, Michigan who was reported missing in January 1989. She would have been 52 today.
(GBI)
"Without the advancements in DNA technology we wouldn't be able to be of assistance and have this success," FBI Special Agent Tim Burke said.
Burke said they were able to give some peace to Stacey Lyn's mother and return some of her daughter's jewelry. After over three decades, Chahorski will be reunited with her family.
Investigators are now searching for Chahorski's killer and asking for the public for any information connected to the case.
According to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, Chahorski last spoke to her mother by telephone on Sept. 15, 1988, telling her she was in North Carolina and was going to be traveling to Flint, MI. and then traveling to Muskegon, MI.
The original police report for her disappearance said she was going from Knoxville, Tennessee to Chicago.
If you know anything that could help with the investigation, please call 1-800-597-TIPS(8477).