Human remains found in Oregon in 1970 identified as missing teen

Skeletal remains found in Oregon by a Boy Scout troop leader in 1970 have been identified as a Portland teenager who was last seen alive in the late 1960s.

The troop leader found the remains of a woman and the remnants of a curly wig on Sauvie Island in Columbia County on Feb. 23, 1970. Those remains belonged to Sandra Young, Oregon State Police announced Thursday. 

Young attended Portland’s Grant High School and had last been seen in 1968 or 1969, police said. At the time the remains were found, investigators determined the bones belonged to a Black woman and they suspected foul play.

 Police in their Thursday announcement made no mention of the cause of Young’s death or whether they had any leads on a potential suspect. 

The bones went unidentified for decades, and DNA testing done on the remains in the early 2000s confirmed only that they belonged to a woman.

In 2018, the bones were referred to a second lab for testing under newer, more thorough methods. The private lab, Parabon Nanolabs, confirmed the skeleton belonged to a Black person, but the initial genealogical report did not produce any more leads about its identity, state police said.

But in January 2023, a person uploaded their DNA into an open source genealogy database and was a distant match for the bones.

Investigators encouraged that person’s family to upload their DNA and found out from those family members that Young had disappeared in Portland before the bones were found.

Investigators also found Young’s sister, whom state police did not name. She uploaded her DNA and talked to Portland Police Bureau detectives about her sister’s disappearance. In October, the identity of the remains was confirmed. 

“Sandra Young has now regained her identity after 54 years,” said Dr. Nici Vance, human identification program coordinator for the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office.

Portland police are investigating Young’s death.