YCSO and FBI crack 18-year-old cold case
The Yuma County Sheriff’s Office said they have discovered the identity of “Angel Baby”, a woman whose body was found with a single gunshot wound in Yuma.
On Monday, May 8 , 2017, the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office received notification from the Federal Bureau of Investigation that the identification of “Angel Baby”, the victim of a 1999 YCSO homicide cold case, had been obtained from a new fingerprint identification program that was initiated this year with the FBI, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs). This new program identified two prints belonging to Angel Marie McAlister, an 18- year-old woman from the San Diego area.
Due to some irregularities in the identification, the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office determined it would be best to locate living family members so that DNA samples could be obtained and compared to the victim. NCMEC, NamUs and the San Diego Child and Family Services were instrumental in helping locate these family members. With the assistance of the Sacramento California Police Department and the Oregon State Police Special Investigations Unit, DNA samples were obtained from two sisters and the biological mother and forwarded to the Arizona Department of Public Safety Lab in Phoenix, Arizona.
On October 24 , 2017, the DPS Lab notified the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office that the DNA samples matched the victim’s DNA profile .
On October 9 , 1999, at approximately 3:00 p.m., YCSO responded to the area of 3½ E and the Colorado River where the body of a deceased female had been discovered. The initial investigation revealed that the deceased female had a single shotgun wound to the face. The female victim is described as Caucasian between 15 and 20 years of age, 106 pounds, and 5’05” tall, with long brown curly hair. She had a surgical scar on her lower right abdomen and a mole on her back. The victim also had a partially finished “angel baby” tattoo on her right ankle. She was wearing a white cotton pullover shirt with two butterflies on the upper left front, green sweatpants and black high-lace-up shoes.
The investigation into the homicide is ongoing. Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to contact the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office at (928) 783-4427or 78-CRIME to remain anonymous.
