Body of missing Seminole County woman ID’d after 37 years

Mary Anga Cowan was found along a Georgia highway in 1985

After 37 years, the remains of a missing Seminole County woman were identified, according to Georgia investigators. (Georgia Bureau of Investigation)

SYLVESTER, Ga. – The body of a missing woman out of Seminole County has been identified after 37 years thanks to Georgia investigators and genealogy technology, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Investigators announced Tuesday that a woman who was found injured and unconscious along Highway 91 in 1985 has been identified as Mary Anga Cowan of Seminole County.

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At the time, the woman was taken to a hospital in Albany, where she died from her injuries the following month, the GBI reported. Investigators said she died from blunt force trauma to her head.

In September 2012, the woman’s body was exhumed and a sample of bone was taken for analysis, though no leads were found at the time, a GBI release shows.

However, in March 2022 the GBI partnered with the FBI to have the remains analyzed by a private DNA lab, investigators said in the release.

In October 2022, researchers were able to determine Cowan was the woman found on the side of the road and matched the DNA results to one of her children.

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