Northern California authorities identify "Emigrant Gap Jane Doe" after nearly 50 years

Nearly 50 years after a woman's body was found in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, authorities in Northern California confirmed her identity.

According to the Placer County Sheriff's Office, the woman has been identified as Melinda "Pip" Beardsley of Nevada. Born in Michigan in 1946, Beardsley was a mother living in Nevada when she disappeared in the mid-1970s.

For years, the victim was known as the "Emigrant Gap Jane Doe", after the location where she was found.

"This identification hopefully provides long-awaited answers to Beardsley's family, but the work is not done," the sheriff's office said in a statement Wednesday.

Deputies said the case began on Dec. 17, 1977, when Beardsley's body was found in a snowbank in the Emigrant Gap area. Investigators determined that she was strangled to death.

During the investigation, the sheriff's office submitted the victim's fingerprints to the FBI and law enforcement agencies across the U.S. and Canada on multiple occasions, but no matches were found. In 2011, the sheriff's office exhumed the woman's remains under the hope that new forensic technologies could identify her.

According to deputies, it was not until 2025 when a DNA profile with sufficient information was produced. The sheriff's office began working with the nonprofit Moxxy Forensic Investigations on the case.

Deputies said the partnership began after Beardley's family contacted The Doe Network, which works to bring closure to missing and unidentified persons' cases.

Moxxy then conducted research into Beardsley's life and her disappearance, identifying a potential connection between her and the Emigrant Gap Jane Doe. The group also worked with police in Reno to ensure Beardsley was formally reported missing, allowing additional investigative steps.

Beardsley's family was located and a DNA comparison was conducted, deputies said. In February, testing confirmed Beardsley was the Emigrant Gap Jane Doe.

The sheriff's office said Beardsley's homicide remains under investigation. Anyone with additional information about the case is asked to contact the sheriff's office tip line at 530-889-7830.