Woman vanished from cabin 41 years ago. Skull found in a ravine is hers, WA cops say
A woman’s remains were just identified after she went missing from her Washington cabin in 1981, a sheriff’s office said.
A part of Alice Lou Williams’ skull was found in a forested ravine on Oct. 10, 2009, near Skykomish, the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office said in a June 16 news release.
Williams disappeared from her Lake Loma cabin in Lake Goodwin 41 years ago. Her children’s father was the last person to see her.
When a part of her cranium was found in a ravine, authorities did not find any other remains, clothing or jewelry, the sheriff’s office said. The remains were sent to the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office.
A forensic anthropology exam was conducted on the skeletal remains and it was concluded they were female and over the age of 40. The woman’s death was ruled suspicious because of trauma found on the cranium.
Her case was put into the FBI’s National Crime Information Center. A year later, her DNA was extracted and put into their Combined DNA Index System.
But there was no match to her DNA in the FBI system.
After two other attempts to identity the woman’s skull through DNA testing, investigators sent a part of her skull to a lab in Woodlands, Texas, in June 2021.
By March 2022, the lab was able to extract DNA from the remains and build a DNA profile for testing.
Williams was then identified June 10 and her death was ruled a homicide.
“Our family became broken over her disappearance and that wound has never healed. In closing, I would just like to thank my mom for her love and devotion,” Williams daughter, Dona Roth said in the release. “Also for teaching hard work and dedication and for leading the way for my own family. She will always be remembered in our hearts.”
Lake Goodwin is about 46 miles north of Seattle.
This story was originally published June 16, 2022 at 5:40 PM with the headline "Woman vanished from cabin 41 years ago. Skull found in a ravine is hers, WA cops say."
