55 years ago a woman's body was found in Boulder, Colorado. Her identity remained a mystery until just a few weeks ago.
The woman is Dorothy Gay Howard and her only living relative is her youngest sister, from Mena. 55 years ago, 18-year-old Dorothy Gay Howard left her family's home in Phoenix, Arizona. Around the same time, the body of a murdered woman was found in Boulder, Colorado.
Half a century later, internet research and DNA testing determined that Jane Doe was in fact Dorothy Howard. Her youngest sister Marlene Ashman is the only remaining family member. She says she remembers her sister Dorothy as nice, but as all big sisters, she liked to boss her around when they were kids.
"After she was gone and we were all missing her, then I wished she would come back and bully me anyway," she remembers.
Now that she knows where her sister has been for the past 55 years, Marlene Ashman says she would like to travel to Boulder, CO to personally thank the people for taking care of her sister.
"Someone put a red rose on her casket and wrote "for Someone's daughter"..and that was nice," said Ashman.
The people of Boulder adopted the Jane Doe as their own. They all pitched in to give Howard a funeral and tombstone.
"You'd like to think the people of Mena or Fort Smith would do something like that, but you never know," said Ashman.
Authorities say they suspect Dorothy Howard was killed by convicted serial killer Harvey Glatman, who was later executed in California. Ashman says she is not trying to decide whether to leave her sister's body in Colorado, or move it to Arizona to be buried next to her parents.
The woman is Dorothy Gay Howard and her only living relative is her youngest sister, from Mena. 55 years ago, 18-year-old Dorothy Gay Howard left her family's home in Phoenix, Arizona. Around the same time, the body of a murdered woman was found in Boulder, Colorado.
Half a century later, internet research and DNA testing determined that Jane Doe was in fact Dorothy Howard. Her youngest sister Marlene Ashman is the only remaining family member. She says she remembers her sister Dorothy as nice, but as all big sisters, she liked to boss her around when they were kids.
"After she was gone and we were all missing her, then I wished she would come back and bully me anyway," she remembers.
Now that she knows where her sister has been for the past 55 years, Marlene Ashman says she would like to travel to Boulder, CO to personally thank the people for taking care of her sister.
"Someone put a red rose on her casket and wrote "for Someone's daughter"..and that was nice," said Ashman.
The people of Boulder adopted the Jane Doe as their own. They all pitched in to give Howard a funeral and tombstone.
"You'd like to think the people of Mena or Fort Smith would do something like that, but you never know," said Ashman.
Authorities say they suspect Dorothy Howard was killed by convicted serial killer Harvey Glatman, who was later executed in California. Ashman says she is not trying to decide whether to leave her sister's body in Colorado, or move it to Arizona to be buried next to her parents.
