Woman found dead in 1990 identified

COLD CASE /

NEWARK — Investigators have identified the woman whose body was found at a Hebron truck stop nearly 30 years ago, after matching her DNA to Kentucky family members who reported her missing last year.

Patrice Corley was 29 when she was killed and her body left behind the Lancaster Road business in April 1990. Her body was partially clothed and she had been beaten, said Licking County Sheriff Randy Thorp. The cause of death was listed as blunt-force trauma to her head.

The body was buried at the Spring Grove Cemetery near Marne, east of Newark, under the name Jane Doe. A simple headstone lists the day her

body was found and says: “Someone’s Daughter, Someone’s Mother.”

For reasons that aren’t clear, it wasn’t until last December that a family member in Louisville reported Corley missing. That relative gave authorities a DNA sample and a check of a national missing-persons database connected the body to the Licking County cold case.

Thorp said the investigation into Corley’s death continues, with the positive identification opening new leads in the case. Licking County detectives have been to Louisville as part of those efforts. The county prosecutor and Louisville police are involved.

“The case is still active and ongoing,” Thorp said. “We’ve got some work to do. Given the fact that she was identified provided us with a lot of information that we

otherwise would not have known.”

Licking County Prosecutor Bill Hayes added, “The investigation is open, and it has promise.”

Corley’s family members have been to Licking County and visited the grave, Thorp said. Family members, through the sheriff’s office, declined to comment.

“Someone finally stepped forward and reported her missing,” Thorp said. “Had that been done earlier or sooner, then we’d be further along.”

The sheriff added: “Perhaps the family had been led to believe that something had happened otherwise to the victim.”

Hayes said his office is spearheading efforts to either relocate Corley’s body or place a new marker on her grave.

“We’re willing to work with the family and the community to see what we can do,” he said.