It's a mystery near four decades long.
August 15th, 1983 Phoenix Police Officers located a woman's body near a canal access road around 43rd Street and Williams Road, in an Ahwatukee neighborhood. For years, detectives worked to identify the woman with no luck. For the past 37 years, she has been known only as “Medical Examiner Case Number 83-1480", and Ahwatukee Jane Doe. Her true identity has remained a mystery.
Fast forward to 2018. Detectives with the Missing and Unidentified Persons Unit used a new technique called Forensic Genealogy. If that term sounds familiar, it is because Phoenix Police and other agencies have had recent success with this new technology. Results from this testing located some very distant relatives and determined that Ahwatukee Jane was likely a member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe. This information was shared with local media, and family members from a missing woman named Peggy Elgo came forward.
Peggy was a member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe and was last seen in 1983 when she was twenty years old. She left behind her infant son and was never seen again. Investigators searched and found no trace of her after 1983. Believing that Ahwatukee Jane Doe may be Peggy Elgo, investigators collected DNA from family members to compare.
Case closed, right? Wrong. The DNA did not match. Phoenix investigators did not stop there. They uploaded the family samples into CODIS, the national DNA database. In 2019, they received a notification of a possible DNA association to another unidentified body case. This Jane Doe was located on June 7, 1983 in a remote desert area in Pinal County. Additional testing was performed, and investigators were able to positively identify the Pinal County Jane Doe as Peggy Elgo.
After 37 years, the family of Peggy Elgo has answers.
While one book closed, the other remans open. Ahwatukee Jane Doe's identity is still a mystery. Phoenix detectives hope another family member will see this story and come forward, like Peggy Elgo's family did, and provide information on who Ahwatukee Jane is.
Ahwatukee Jane is described as a Native American female, 25-30 years old in 1983, 5'05", 142 pounds, with shoulder length black hair with loose curls, and brown eyes. She had a metal retainer on the tongue side of her lower teeth. During her life, she had orthodontic dental work that was characterized as “excellent". Forensic Genealogy has shown that she is likely a member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe.
If anyone has any information on the Ahwatukee Jane case, please contact the Phoenix Police Department's Missing and Unidentified Persons Unit at 602-534-2121, or after hours contact 602-262-6141. Tips can also be called into Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS, 480-TESTIGO for Spanish.
The identification of Peggy Elgo was a team effort, with many agencies involved. The Phoenix Police Department would like to acknowledge the assistance of the Pima county Medical Examiner's Office, the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office, Parabon Labs, Bode Labs, and the San Carlos Apache Police Department. If you have any details on the circumstances surrounding her disappearance, contact the Pinal County Sheriff's Office.
