Remains found in 1992 finally identified
Twenty-five years after a hunter found a skull near Mohawk Park, authorities have identified the remains as a woman who wasn’t reported missing until nearly two decades after her disappearance.
Greta Riles, who was 22 or 23 when she vanished, was identified from the partial remains found in December 1992 in the 5800 block of North Harvard Avenue, according to a news release from the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office.
Riles’ family did not report her missing until 2012 “due to Riles’ lifestyle,” sheriff’s spokeswoman Casey Roebuck states in the release.
Sheriff’s deputies located additional remains after Riles’ skull was found, but authorities were not able to determine the cause of death, Roebuck says. The remains could have been in that area for about a year after her death.
The state medical examiner’s office initially determined the remains as those of a young black female. However, at that time, there was no missing persons report that matched the description.
Riles had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance in 1989. She served about one year in prison before being released on probation in September 1990, Department of Corrections spokesman Alex Gerszewski said.
Authorities suspect she disappeared in 1991. Tulsa County probation officers were searching for her as late as 2016.
Probation officers made contact with an associate of Riles in 2009, Gerszewski said.
“The associate said (Riles) hadn’t been seen in 17 years,” Gerszewski said. “Everyone in their circle assumed she was dead.”
The sheriff’s Cold Case Task Force submitted the remains for DNA analysis to the University of North Texas, which subsequently made the identification.
Roebuck said Riles was the last Jane Doe case on the task force’s docket. One John Doe case remains. In that 1988 case, authorities have tested the DNA of the man’s remains but have not been able to make an identification.
Officials in the sheriff’s office and medical examiner’s office credit a National Institute of Justice grant with making Riles’ identification possible. The grant has not been renewed, according to the release.
Angela Berg, a forensic anthropologist, said the medical examiner’s office had hoped to submit “dozens more” cases for analysis, but the news release says a lack of money dashes that effort.
“This doesn’t just help families in Oklahoma, it helps identify bodies across the country,” Berg said. “It also funds research and techniques we use to identify the missing and bring answers to families.”
A DNA analysis can cost up to $1,000, Roebuck said, but that cost does not include a comparison through various databases.
Although Riles’ remains have been identified, detectives have not closed the case. They want to determine what happened to her, Roebuck said.
The Cold Case Task Force is asking anyone who knew Riles or associated with her in the late 1980s and early ‘90s to come forward. Those with information can contact the sheriff’s office at 918596-5600.