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15h ago

After 49 Years, DNA Identifies Oregon's 'Swamp Mountain Jane Doe' as Marion McWhorter

A relative’s DNA upload enabled genealogists to match preserved remains to the Alaska Native woman.

A school photo of Marion Vinetta Nagle McWhorter, who disappeared in 1974 in Oregon and whose remains were recently confirmed by DNA from her sister Valerie Nagle, is seen over notes taken by Nagle about McWhorter's disappearance Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Family photos of Marion Vinetta Nagle McWhorter, who disappeared in 1974 in Oregon and whose remains were recently confirmed by DNA from her sister Valerie Nagle, are seen over notes taken by Nagle about McWhorter's disappearance Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
A family photo of Marion Vinetta Nagle McWhorter, back center in white, who disappeared in 1974 in Oregon, and whose remains were recently identified, is held by her sister Valerie Nagle Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Valerie Nagle, whose DNA recently helped to confirm the remains of her sister Marion Vinetta Nagle McWhorter, who disappeared in 1974 in Oregon, poses for a portrait Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Overview

  • Oregon State Police announced this week that remains found in 1976 near Swamp Mountain in the Central Cascades were identified in June as Marion Vinetta Nagle McWhorter.
  • The breakthrough came in April when a first cousin once removed uploaded DNA to FamilyTreeDNA, allowing genealogists to build a family tree and locate a surviving sibling for comparison.
  • Earlier evidence work included a 2010 bone sample sent to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification and a 2020 extraction that produced a usable genetic marker profile entered in NamUs.
  • McWhorter, 21, was last seen at a Tigard shopping mall in October 1974, and a relative later recounted she mentioned a man in a white pickup offering her a ride.
  • State forensic officials say she likely did not go missing voluntarily, and the Linn County Sheriff's Office continues to investigate the circumstances of her death.