Teen murder victim found in California vineyard identified 48 years later

Nearly 50 years after the body of a teen girl was discovered in a rural vineyard in Kern County, authorities have finally identified the victim in the unsolved murder as a 15-year-old Fresno girl.

During a press conference on Tuesday, the Kern County Sheriff’s Department named the girl as Michelle Louise Collier. The teen was last seen in February 1978 before a tractor operator found her body in a shallow grave in the vineyard in Arvin that June.

“When the unidentified remains were recovered in 1978, DNA technology did not exist. Identification depended primarily on fingerprints, and dental records,” the sheriff’s office said, noting that the existing evidence didn’t help at the time.

The cold case remained unsolved for the next 48 years until modern advances in DNA analysis and genetics technology broke it wide open.

“In 2007, Coroner personnel discovered DNA samples had not been collected in 1978, leading to the exhumation of the remains to obtain a DNA sample,” the sheriff’s department said.

The information was put into an existing database but still no match could be made. A breakthrough came when a family member contributed to a commercial genealogy database, providing the key investigators said they needed. 

A member of Collier’s family, Cynthia Dunbar, spoke at the press conference about what it means for them to finally be able to bring their loved one, who she referred to as “Shelley,” home.

“To our sister Shell. You didn’t deserve to die this way, Shelley,” she said. “Barely 15 years old, still a child with your whole life ahead of you. I’m sorry that we didn’t protect you.”

The family also had a message for Collier’s killer.

“Your cowardice act affected our entire family — but make no mistake, law enforcement will find you and hold you accountable,” Dunbar said.

“Whether you are already incarcerated or dead, you will be found. May God bless your soul, because you are going to hell, if you’re not there already,” she added. 

The sheriff’s department said the investigation will continue.

“We at the Kern County Sheriff’s office are grateful to finally reunite Michelle with her family after 48 years and to finally restore Michelle’s name and provide her family with long-awaited answers,” the sheriff’s office said.

Michelle’s case remains open and authorities are asking for anyone with information to come forward.

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