Identification Made in 1971 Cold Case
December 28, 2023 - Placer County Sheriff's Office officials report that they are pleased to announce that an identification has been made in a case originating from the South Lake Tahoe area back in 1971.
In 1971, Donna Lass was reported as a missing person from the South Lake Tahoe Police Department. The investigative leads surrounding the disappearance of Lass were exhausted and the case remained unsolved.
In 1986, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office located an unidentified skull off of Hwy 20 near Interstate 80. There was no additional evidence located at the time, so the skull was preserved at our coroner’s office pending further advancements in forensic technology. The case was classified as an unidentified Jane Doe investigation.
Recently, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, along with the Placer County District Attorney’s Office, started a cold case team and dedicated additional resources to assist in the investigation of unsolved missing persons and suspicious death cases. This team, along with our Crimes Against Persons unit, recently sent the skull off to the California Department of Justice in an attempt to utilize DNA technology to identify it. The California Department of Justice Bureau of Forensic Services was able to match the DNA of the skull with the DNA from a member of Donna Lass’s family which was obtained by South Lake Tahoe Police Department for their missing persons case. This allowed them to identify the skull as the remains of Donna Lass.
Last week, South Lake Tahoe PD was able to notify Donna Lass’ surviving family members that she had been located. We are extremely grateful that this team effort was able to bring closure to the Lass family and are hopeful that cold case detectives can continue to make advances in these cases. South Lake Tahoe PD will be continuing to look into any future leads on this case. Persons with information related to this development are encouraged to contact the SLTPD Detective Division at cybertips@cityofslt.us.
Source & photo: Placer County Sheriff's Office
