LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Human remains discovered outside of Henderson over 50 years ago have finally been identified, according to a report from LVMPD on November 7.
On June 7, 1970, remains were found "buried in a shallow grave" in the desert by some children, according to officials. A "depressed fracture to the skull" led the Clark County Coroner's Office to determine the death a homicide, but were unable to identify the remains at the time, police said.
Two years prior to the remains' discovery, a woman named Anna Silvia Just was reported missing in 1968 after officials said her belongings were discovered outside of Henderson. LVMPD said that a missing person report was also actively in place for Just in Calgary, Canada.
At the time, police said the investigation revealed Just was connected to a man named Thomas Hanley, and may have "gone to him for money." Allegedly, associates of Hanley had driven Just out to the desert at his request, where she was murdered, LVMPD shared. Though Just's belongings were recovered, she was never found, police said.
The Calgary Cold Case Missing Person Detectives contacted LVMPD in October of 2024 after learning of Just's activity in the Las Vegas Area in the 1960s, police shared. LVMPD said they provided them with the name of Just's relative that came to take the discovered belongings in 1968, which allowed Calgary detectives to find Anna's living biological sister.
After collecting a DNA sample from Just's sister, detectives were able to confirm that the remains were Just's through genetic genealogy, according to police.