‘Parrotts Ferry Jane Doe’ identified after more than 25 years

ANGELS CAMP, Calif. —

A woman who first disappeared more than a quarter-century ago and is believed to have been a victim of a homicide has been identified, the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office said Monday.

For years, Anita Kathleen Ranker, 57, has been known as the “Parrotts Ferry Jane Doe.” The sheriff’s office said someone discovered her remains Oct. 9, 2015, in California beneath the Parrotts Ferry Bridge in the Stanislaus River, which had reached historically low levels due to the drought at the time. But she is believed to have disappeared sometime before 2000, and she was never reported missing.

Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office

Despite years of investigation, the sheriff’s office said Ranker’s case went cold until 2021, when the Calaveras Cold Case Task Force was created.

The agency said years of work with multiple labs, the California Department of Justice and more than $50,000 worth of donations to the task force helped propel the case forward.

“Every unidentified person represents a family, friends, and a life story that deserves to be known,” Calaveras Sheriff Rachelle Whiting said in a news release. “The identification of Parrotts Ferry Jane Doe is a testament to the dedication and perseverance of the Cold Case Task Force and the forensic partners who continued working toward the goal of restoring Anita Ranker’s name.”

Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office

Because Ranker’s remains had gone through much degradation over the years — they were partially submerged in the Stanislaus River for years — the sheriff’s office said extracting usable DNA was a challenge.

In June of this year, the sheriff’s office said a lab managed to extract DNA, which helped identify Ranker’s relatives. They were able to provide a DNA sample of their own to corroborate their relation to Ranker, who was believed to have been living in the Murphys area before she disappeared.

Ranker’s death investigation is ongoing, and the sheriff’s office said it identified a person of interest in connection with the case.

Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office

“Task Force members will continue working to gather additional information, identify those responsible, and bring accountability for the crime committed against her,” the sheriff’s office said.

Throughout the past several years, advances in DNA technology have led to breakthroughs in cases previously thought unsolvable. The technology has led to the arrests of notorious criminals, such as the Golden State Killer, and has also helped clear the names of people suspected of past crimes.