For decades, authorities couldn’t identify a woman found dead in Desert Hot Springs on Jan. 19, 1974.
Investigators used fingerprints, compared dental records and searched for leads in the case, but came up empty.
Advances in forensic science helped officials identify the woman earlier this month as Rebecca Jean McMahan, who also was known as Becky McMahan and Becky Solis, according to the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.
Now, authorities are continuing to search for who may have killed the 19-year-old McMahan and left her remains partially buried in the desert, said Molly Smith, a spokesperson for the District Attorney’s Office.
McMahan’s family reported her missing on July 3, 1973. She last was seen on June 11, 1973, in Bell Gardens and had mentioned going to Palm Springs for vacation, authorities said.
After re-examining the case in 2024, the Riverside County Regional Cold Case Homicide Team sent the woman’s bone samples to a private forensic lab and developed a DNA profile that was uploaded to an ancestry database. A genealogist found a potential relative of the woman who lived in California and later told authorities of a relative who went missing in 1973 and never was found.
Using DNA samples the relative provided as well as confirmation from officials handling missing persons cases with the California Department of Justice, officials identified the woman as McMahan, the District Attorney’s Office said.
Authorities asked anyone with information about McMahan or the circumstances surrounding her death to contact cold case investigators at 951-955-0257 or coldcaseunit@rivcoda.org.
Between 1969 and 1973 McMahan lived in Bellingham, Washington, Bell, Cudahy and Commerce. She had long brown hair and hazel eyes, was between 5’3″ and 5’4″ and weighed 120 to 145 pounds. McMahan had an “SS” tattoo on her ankle and a butterfly tattoo on the right side of her chest.