COLUMBUS – Authorities in Columbus say they’ve identified two women who were found dead in separate cases in central Ohio more than two decades ago.
“The case might get stale, but it is never cold — as this fresh detective work and forensic reconstruction shows,” AG Yost said. “Everybody had a name, and a life. Everyone counts.”
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— Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (@OhioAG) March 31, 2020
Franklin County Coroner Dr. Anahi Ortiz says the women were identified after their descriptions were matched with missing people through a national missing persons database.
The body of Karen Kaye Frank, 52, was found outside the former Kahiki restaurant, 3583 E. Broad Street on Nov. 11, 1999. It is believed she died of natural causes.
She was born in California, traveled extensively throughout the country and had recently moved to Ohio and obtained a driver’s license.
The body of a woman found next to a building in the 2000 block of Hardy Parkway in 1998 was identified as Turina Jefferies of Philadelphia. No cause of death was given.
Frank and Jefferies were identified through investigative work conducted by Ortiz’s office with assistance from the state Bureau of Criminal Investigations and their identities were confirmed with fingerprints and DNA, Ohio Attorney General David Yost said.