Florida remains identified as transgender Kentucky woman 36 years later

KENTUCKY (FOX 56) —A cold case mystery is one step closer to closure.

In September 1988, the body of a transgender woman was found alongside a Florida Highway. The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said the victim had been dead for two to four weeks by the time the remains were discovered in the rural, heavily wooded area.

“The victim was initially thought to be female until 2015, when DNA testing revealed the victim was biologically male,” the sheriff’s office wrote on Monday. “The victim was wearing a skirt and had breast implants, and there is evidence she may have been taking female hormone injections. It is unknown if the victim had undergone any other gender reassignment surgery.”

In 2019, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office contacted the DNA Doe Project, a nonprofit that works to identify Jane and John Doe victims with “investigative genetic genealogy.” Since its inception, the DNA Doe Project has solved 134 cases.

“Authorities at the time suspected she had been sexually assaulted and murdered,” the DNA Doe Project wrote. “She became known as Julie Doe.”

The sheriff’s office was connected with the Trans Doe Task Force, and the DNA Doe Project said it took five years of diligence and persistence by a team of volunteers to narrow Julie Doe’s family tree.

“The team faced just about every possible hurdle, from unknown parentage, matches who were adopted, to endogamy,” said team co-leader Eric Hendershott. “Even up to the end, when we suspected that she was adopted, the team was stuck.”

“It was clear from the start that our Doe had strong family ties to Kentucky, but we didn’t know for sure if she was born there or if she ever lived there,” said Lance Daly, investigative genetic genealogist. “While searching Fayette County records, we discovered the names of two key relatives who were crucial to unraveling the mystery.”

The team found that Julie Doe had been adopted when she was 5 years old and grew up with her adoptive family in Kentucky. Her name was officially changed in her mid-20s, likely around the time she began hormone therapy.

After over five years of dedicated genealogy research by nearly 50 volunteers, a familial DNA comparison identified Julie Doe as Pamela Leigh Walton, born Lee Allen Walton, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office announced on Monday.

“Pamela’s story includes many common themes that trans people face,” said Pam Lauritzen, executive director of media and communications at the DNA Doe Network. “From derogatory notations left in high school yearbooks about her to a headstone pre-carved with her former male name, it’s heartbreaking to know that the community was not willing to accept her and the identity she chose.”

“It’s unknown how Pamela came to be in Florida. Pamela’s manner of death is undetermined, and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office is continuing efforts to gather information regarding the circumstances of the death,” the sheriff’s office wrote.

If you have any information, contact the Lake County Sheriff’s Office at (352) 343-2101.