A 40-Year Mystery Unveiled: A Stranger's Call Reveals the Truth Behind Her Mother's Disappearance

Misty LaBean always pondered the reasons behind her mother's departure from the family when she was just a year old.

The disappearance of Connie Christensen from Wisconsin 40 years ago was not a surprise to her other family members; she had a history of running away, even as a teenager, and had spent time working at a carnival.

Throughout her life, LaBean had only caught glimpses of her mother through hushed conversations. The rest of her family was pained and unwilling to discuss Christensen, convinced that she had willingly left at the young age of 20.

Throughout that time, LaBean remained unaware that strangers hundreds of miles away were also working to unravel the same mystery. With time and the relentless progress of science, they would eventually piece together the truth, with LaBean's assistance. Ultimately, a daughter would come to understand that her mother's departure "may not have been her choice."

Hunters in the woods – and in the lab

The chief deputy coroner of Wayne County Coroners Office, Lauren Ogden, mentioned that it was a sketch artist who initially used a clay bust to attempt to reconstruct the face of the remains discovered in December 1982 in east-central Indiana.

Hunters had discovered them near Martindale Creek in a rural area predominantly utilized for hunting and farming, she explained. However, as a result of flooding, the remains were irreparably damaged and were subsequently stored at the University of Indianapolis.

Tim Curran/CNN

I used DNA analysis to find my birth family and it sent me across three continents

The coroners office remained persistent in their efforts to determine the identity of the individuals. Advancements in science over the years allowed investigators to move from relying on drawings to identify missing and deceased individuals to extracting and analyzing delicate strands of evidence to accurately pinpoint a person's identity.

The advancement in technology was so significant that in 2021, the Wayne County Coroners Office revisited the evidence discovered near Martindale Creek in an attempt to extract DNA and identify the remains' owner, according to Ogden speaking to CNN. Unfortunately, the initial extraction was unsuccessful due to insufficient genetic material for producing a usable DNA profile.

They tried a second DNA extraction.

Another failure.

Then, she explained, Ogden and her team tried a DNA extraction from a bone in the foot.

A critical link, waiting to be found

During that period, someone in Christensen's family had developed a keen interest in genealogy and was urging her relatives to submit their DNA records to public databases that assist in tracing family histories, according to Ogden.

While celebrated as a means to delve into personal ancestry and establish connections with unknown relatives, DNA matching has also been instrumental in linking perpetrators to crimes, such as the case of the Happy Face Killer, who brutally murdered at least eight women. Additionally, it played a crucial role in identifying and apprehending the Golden State Killer, who was suspected of committing twelve homicides and over fifty rapes.

Dolly Kreis proudly displays a picture of her daughter Debbie Strauss to Joseph James DeAngelo, also known as the Golden State Killer, who remained unfazed, as she delivers her victim impact statement on the first day of the trial.

Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle/Pool/AP

Police used free genealogy database to track Golden State Killer suspect, investigator says

The authorities in the Golden State case utilized the GEDmatch database, which is free and focuses on genealogy and DNA, in order to connect the DNA found at the crime scene with a group of potential suspects formed using DNA profiles and genealogical information from public services such as Ancestry - the same services that Christensen's relatives had urged her family to use.

GEDmatch is also employed by the DNA Doe Project, a non-profit organization that employs investigative genetic genealogy to identify unidentified human remains.

Collaborating with the group and using DNA from the foot bone of the Martindale Creek remains, the Wayne County Coroners Office attempted to create a potential family tree for the individual discovered by hunters in 1982, according to Ogden.

Within 24 hours, they had a promising lead, said Lori Flowers of the DNA Doe Project in an interview with CNN.

The non-profit organization had narrowed down the pool of potential DNA matches for the Martindale Creek remains to the Christensen siblings. Upon examining family social media posts and obituaries, investigators discovered that Connie Christensen had disappeared from her family's public records. However, confirmation was still needed.

Ogden reached out to the missing womans child, LaBean.

Misty LaBean

Courtesy Misty LaBean

Reclaiming her own mothers identity

The match was her mother.

Beyond Christensens identity, the coroners office also shared a discovery its team had made about how LaBeans mother had died, Ogden said: a gunshot wound.

The grim detail let loose a tangle of new questions: What was Christensen doing in Indiana? Who killed her? And why?

Krista Martin Cold CaseMartin was killed in 1989 in Wichita, Kansas

Wichita Police Department

Police have solved a 34-year-old cold case involving the assault and death of a Kansas woman. LaBean visited the location where her mother's remains were discovered near Martindale Creek. She expressed her bewilderment at how the perpetrator had managed to transport Christensen so far from the nearest bus line.

LaBean expressed hope that the publicity about the case will help her family find more answers.

Despite this, learning about Christensen's fate finally freed the grip her family had on her memory, which was a relief to the child who had always wondered why she had been abandoned.

LaBean also retrieved the opal ring her mother had on when she passed away, a tribute to her own youth, when some of her most cherished jewelry items were opals, she shared. The gold band with two diamonds and an opal is suspended on a chain around the neck of the adult daughter - now a mother herself.

Eileen Truppner

Broward Sheriff's Office

LaBean expressed some unfulfilled wishes, such as longing for her mom to have styled her hair before her first middle school dance, similar to how she did for her own sisters.

The grown daughter and her whole family are now eager to bring the lost, young mother back into an embrace multiplied over decades as they finally grieve all they truly lost.

CNNs Andy Rose contributed to this report.