cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/1496151

More than 20 years after a woman’s body was discovered during a construction project in Redondo Beach, police have identified her as a mother who was last in contact with her family in 1981.

Catherine Parker-Johnson’s remains were identified earlier this year through DNA comparisons with her daughter and sister, Redondo Beach police said in a statement.

The last time Parker-Johnson’s family was in contact with her was in May 1981 in Lennox and she had not been reported missing, police said.

Twenty years later, on Aug. 29, 2001, Parker-Johnson’s body was found during a construction project on a residential street in Redondo Beach. Police said there was a lengthy investigation at the time but they were not able to identify the body.

There is now an active homicide investigation into Parker-Johnson’s death, police said. They encouraged anyone with information about her to reach out to Redondo Beach police investigators John Skipper or Rick Petersen at (310) 379-2477 Ext. 2714 or janedoe2001@redondo.org.

Police have also scheduled a news conference for Monday at 10 a.m. at 200 N. Pacific Coast Hwy in Redondo Beach, to ask for help from the public and discuss additional details.

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Paloma Esquivel is a reporter for the Los Angeles Times. She was on the team that won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for public service for investigating corruption in the city of Bell and the team that won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news for coverage of the San Bernardino terror attack. Prior to joining The Times in 2007, she was a freelance writer, worked in Spanish-language radio and was an occasional substitute teacher. A Southern California native, she graduated from UC Berkeley and has a master’s in journalism from Syracuse University.