Appalachian Unsolved: DNA breakthrough offers hope for identifying the ‘Lady in the Lake’ after 25 years

She was found dead in Melton Hill Lake 25 years ago, but new lab testing and an AI-generated image may finally reveal the identity of the Lady in the Lake.

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — It’s been 25 years since a woman was found dead in Melton Hill Lake. To this day, her identity remains a mystery. But investigators in Oak Ridge are hoping new leads, stemming from DNA lab testing, could finally turn the tide.

For years, she has been known only as the Oak Ridge Jane Doe, a woman locals came to call the Lady in the Lake. It was on March 6, 2000 when an unidentified woman was recovered from Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

Investigators believed she had been in the water for as long as two weeks and it was surmised she may have entered the water near Melton Hill Park and drifted to where she was eventually recovered. She had no identification, and no missing person report matched her description, leaving very little to work with beyond a handful of confirmed details.

One of those details was surprisingly ordinary. Investigators determined her last known meal came from the Iron Skillet on nearby Watt Road, placing her in Oak Ridge shortly before she was found.

Investigators documented several identifying details, but none led back to a name. She was believed to be in her mid-20s to mid-30s and stood around 5 feet 9 inches tall. She had brown hair and pierced ears. Her dental work showed signs of routine care, including silver fillings, a porcelain crown, and indications she may have worn braces earlier in life. She also wore a distinctive gold ring with a cross at its center.

Over the years, more than fifteen missing person cases were carefully compared to her, and each one was ruled out.
Genetic genealogy later allowed investigators to build a partial family tree using her DNA, but it widened instead of narrowing.

Despite tips, exclusions, and new technology, the Oak Ridge Jane Doe remains unidentified, and the events that brought her to the lake have yet to come to the surface.

It all started back on March 6, 2000. Fishermen spotted a body, which investigators later learned had likely been there for weeks. She later became known as the Lady in the Lake.

“I believe that she had been drowned in Melton Hill Park, across the river from where she was actually found at, and then the body drifted, and that’s where the fishermen actually found her,” Oak Ridge Police Investigator Jason Robbins said.

Robbins said the woman was found nude, with no jewelry or identifying marks or scars. The only thing investigators had to work with were her dental records. But, despite having extensive dental work, those records didn’t lead investigators to an identity.

“She took pride in how she looked,” Robbins said. “She was a beautiful woman and she cared for herself.”

Later, DNA testing would put her age between 24 and 35.

The autopsy showed her final meal was at the Iron Skillet off Watt Road. But what happened between her dinner and death remains a mystery more than two decades later.

Several years ago, investigators submitted her DNA to Othram, a lab in Texas, for review and that helped investigators narrow down her family tree. But, there were still too many branches to truly help.

Throughout this time, investigators have worked off a sketch and clay model to try to determine what she may have looked like. But a recent image, produced with the help of artificial intelligence, has sparked a flurry of new leads.

Robbins recently followed up on two tips tied to missing women who disappeared a short time before the Lady in the Lake was found dead.

Holly Ann Paul was reported missing from Alabama in August of 1999. With the help of the Knox County Regional Forensic Center’s ANDE machine, investigators were able to determine that DNA from Paul’s son was not a match for the Oak Ridge Jane Doe.

Robbins also looked into whether Kristie Moon could be the unidentified woman. Moon was last seen in October of 1999 in Parsons, Tenn. But the ANDE machine again ruled out that lead when Moon’s daughter’s DNA was not a match.

However, in just the past two weeks, a new report from Othram has led to nine new leads. He said he’s talked to five people tied to those leads, and four have already agreed to provide DNA to Othram to help with the investigation.

“When you think about having a family member missing for 25 years and not knowing what happened to them, it’s got to be tough,” Robbins said. “And our goal is to give them some answers. Maybe not all of them, but at least some.”