More Than 30 Years Later, Missing New Hampshire Teen Identified as Tennessee Homicide Victim

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JOHNSON CITY, TENN. – The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is asking for the public’s help in providing information about a homicide that took place more than 30 years ago.

On April 14, 1985, the body of a young female was found partially decomposed along Interstate 81 in Greene County near Exit 44. TBI Special Agents joined the Greene County Sheriff’s Office in investigating the case, which was ruled a homicide. Autopsy results revealed the victim died approximately three weeks before her body was discovered. Authorities were unable to determine the identity of the victim, and she was listed as a Jane Doe.

As a result of the ongoing investigation, a sample of the victim’s remains was submitted to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification (UNTCHI) in 2006. A DNA profile for the victim was developed and entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) in hopes that she would eventually be identified. This week, investigators finally received the news they were waiting for when the UNTCHI confirmed there was a match to the DNA profile. The victim was identified as 17-year-old Elizabeth Lamotte, who was missing from New Hampshire. Lamotte was last seen in November of 1984, but it wasn’t until last year that detectives with the Manchester Police Department in New Hampshire located members of her family and obtained DNA samples from them. Those samples were submitted to CODIS, which ultimately resulted in Elizabeth Lamotte being identified.

At this time, the investigation remains active and ongoing. TBI Special Agents are asking for the public’s help to develop new leads in the case. Anyone with information regarding Elizabeth Lamotte’s murder, specifically knowledge about individuals she may have been with in the days before she died, is asked to call the TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND (1-800-824-3463).

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