(Colusa County, CA) – The Colusa County Sheriff’s Office said Friday that decades after a woman was found dead near the Meridian Bridge, law enforcement officials were able to identify that person as Betty Jo Evans of Yuba City.

According to The Appeal-Democrat, Colusa County deputies and detectives were dispatched to calls of a person found deceased in the Sacramento River about one mile south of the bridge on Aug. 13, 1991. That person, now identified as Evans, was found by a local farmer who said they were in the area “turning on an irrigation pump.” After the discovery of Evans, detectives reportedly contacted multiple agencies across the nation to identify her. Because those attempts failed over the years, the case went cold.

Then, after Lt. Jose Ruiz was assigned to the Colusa County Sheriff’s Office Investigations Unit, in November 2017 the case was reopened in an attempt to identify Evans. Nearly seven years later with the assistance of the FBI Sacramento Violent Crime Task Force investigative genetic genealogy team, officials said Evans was identified as the “victim.” According to officials, she was born Oct. 4, 1961, lived in Yuba City, and “may have been transient.” Authorities say that the case is still an active investigation.