SOUTH LAKE TAHOE — A breakthrough has been made in a missing person case in South Lake Tahoe from the early 1970s.
Donna Lass was reported missing to the South Lake Tahoe police in 1971.
While the investigation was inconclusive at the time, more than a decade later the Placer County Sheriff's Office found a skull on Highway 20 near Interstate 80. However, investigators at the time were unable to identify that person.
The skull was preserved and was re-examined in recent years by Placer County's new cold case team.
Thanks to advances in DNA technology, the skull found in 1986 had DNA consistent with a member of the Lass family. The remains were then positively identified as those of Donna Lass.
Investigators contacted Lass' family last week and informed the public Wednesday that Lass' remains had been identified.
“We are extremely grateful that this team effort was able to bring closure to the Lass family’s case and hope that detectives can continue to make progress on these cases,” the sheriff’s office wrote in a statement.
Exactly how Lass died is still unknown.
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