Remains found in Foresthill identified as Sacramento woman who went missing in 2000
FORESTHILL – Detectives have identified the remains of a woman found decades ago in Placer County by once again using genetic genealogy.
The woman's remains were discovered on Driver's Flat Road in the Foresthill area back on March 20, 2001. She was classified as a Jane Doe cold case.
With the advent of genetic genealogy, a forensic tool that has been used to break many cold cases in recent years, Placer County detectives revisited the discovery and sent a DNA profile from the remains to a lab.
Earlier in 2025, the sheriff's office says a DNA match was found. Then, in March, detectives were able to officially identify the remains as those of 34-year-old Sacramento resident Zania Lynette Williams.
Detectives noted that Williams was last seen around Christmas of 2000, but she had never been listed as a missing person.
Exactly how Williams died is also still under investigation.
