A woman whose remains were found in a Michigan house nearly two decades ago has been identified – and police believe she could be the victim of a serial killer.
Darylnn Washington died just days before her remains were found in June 1996, but she remained a Jane Doe despite authorities’ attempts to identify her.
Her information was entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) and a forensic composite of what she may have looked like was released to the public in hopes someone would know her. But her case went cold and her was identity unknown. Until now.
Authorities said in a news release on January 6 that the woman was identified as Washington through DNA testing after the Detroit Police Department reached out to Othram, a forensic genetic genealogy company, in 2022. The company specializes in advanced DNA technology.
When Washington’s remains were first discovered at the abandoned house on the east side of Detroit, it was determined that she was a Black female between the ages of 20 and 30 years and that she was about five feet tall. But no other identifying characteristics could be determined.
Washington’s death was ruled a homicide and authorities said it was believed she was a victim of Detroit-area serial killer Shelly Brooks, who allegedly confessed to the murder, according to the release.
When her remains were identified, the family of Washington, who was born on June 15, 1959, was notified. Investigators learned that her family believed their loved one had been murdered by a serial killer, but her remains were never located.
In 2006, Brooks was charged with killing seven women with whom he had paid for sex, the Associated Press reported.
“All their bodies were found in remote locations in Detroit: an abandoned apartment building, a vacant garage, an alley, a vacant field, and a vacant house,” the Michigan Court of Appeals said in a summary in 2008.
He stood trial for two of the murders, convicted and sentenced to life in prison, records show.The other cases were no longer pursued in court after Brooks’ life sentencing, according to Maria Miller of the Wayne County prosecutor’s office.
Brooks, now 55, is serving his time at Kinross Correctional Facility in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, records show.
