SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CA (WTVB) – There has been a recent break in a cold case murder investigation involving a woman who was born in Coldwater in 1962.
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department says Claudette Jean Zebolsky Powers was identified thanks to technology that uses DNA and genealogy websites to find family ties.
Her remains were found in February of 1986 near campgrounds in Warner Springs, California.
The San Diego Union Tribune reports Powers lived with her husband in Washington in the early 80s but left him and moved to San Diego County in 1983 or 1984. She lost contact with her family in 1984 when her father died.
Police think her killer remains at large. Powers’ youngest sister Laura Freese said in a Sheriff’s Department video they are looking for answers that go back decades.
She says the family is looking for someone to step forward with information.
Adding to the mystery, a second body was found near where Powers’ body was discovered. The man’s body has not been identified and it’s not known if the two cases are connected.
Anyone with information was asked to call the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Unit at (858) 285-6330 or the Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477. Tips to that phone number can be made in secret and tips that lead to an arrest could result in a reward of up to $1,000.
May have known the family when children were young .I would like to know who was her parents.