Authorities identify serial killer victim with help from genealogy database
, 2021-10-22 02:00:00,
She is “Horseshoe Harriet” no longer.
Thirty-seven years after a young woman’s remains were discovered, she has been identified as Robin Pelkey, authorities announced on Friday morning. Pelkey, who was born in 1963 in Colorado, was a victim of convicted serial killer Robert Hansen, according to the Alaska Department of Public Safety.
Hansen, who, in the early ’80s abducted, hunted and killed women in the wilderness near Anchorage, died in 2014 at age 75, as reported by the Washington Post. Pelkey was 19 at the time of her death, according to the Alaska Department of Public Safety. The department has purchased a new grave marker identifying Pelkey’s grave at Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery.
“I would like to thank all of the troopers, investigators, and analysts that have diligently worked on this case over the last 37 years. Without their hard work and tenacity, the identity of Ms. Pelkey may have never been known,” said Alaska Department of Public Safety Commissioner James Cockrell in a news release. “The Alaska Department of Public Safety will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to solve major crimes in our state, hold anyone that violates our laws accountable, and bring closure to a victims’ family.”
Hansen, who was arrested in October 1983, initially pleaded guilty to four murders and several other felonies, according to the Alaska Department of Public Safety. He eventually admitted to murdering 17 women.
The Alaska Bureau of Investigation Cold Case Investigation Unit recently launched an attempt to identify Pelkey’s remains, according to the Department of Public Safety. In August, a new DNA profile for Pelkey was generated, uploaded into a public-access genealogy database and yielded several matches that helped construct a family…
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