NEW BUFFALO, Mich. -- The Michigan State Police have identified the woman known as "New Buffalo Jane Doe" after 37 years, revealing her to be Dorothy Glanton, a 71-year-old woman from Chicago, Illinois.

Glanton was reported missing after leaving her Chicago home on Dec. 9, 1987, four months before her body was found in New Buffalo on Apr. 8, 1988.

After recovering Glanton's remains on the shoreline of Lake Michigan, the investigation into her identity began, with initial assessments erroneously suggesting she was a white woman in her 40s or 50s.

It wasn't until 2023, when MSP investigators sought assistance from the DNA Doe Project, a nonprofit specializing in investigative genetic genealogy, that DNA extracted from Glanton's remains was able to reveal more accurate information and construct a family tree, leading to her identification.