1968 cold case homicide victim who had been strangled and beaten is identified

WILL COUNTY, Ill. (TCN) -- Investigators recently identified a woman whose nude body was discovered with signs of strangulation and blunt force trauma nearly 57 years ago.

According to the Will County Coroner's Office and genetic genealogy company Othram Inc., on Sept. 30, 1968, a highway worker discovered the remains of an unidentified female victim near Blodgett Road partially covered by brush. An autopsy determined she had been strangled and suffered blunt force trauma to her head.

Investigators obtained the victim's fingerprints but were unable to identify her, and the case went cold. Officials entered her case information into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.

Decades later, in 2009, the victim's remains were exhumed, and authorities obtained a DNA sample and submitted it for further testing. In 2021, the coroner's office worked with Othram to extract the DNA and build a comprehensive DNA profile. As a result, it led authorities to Native American tribes in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa.

According to Othram, the Bureau of Indian Affairs created and distributed a flyer to help identify the victim, which led to a woman in Washington who believed she was related to her. The woman reportedly contacted a niece who gave a DNA sample to compare with the profile. The coroner's office and Othram announced July 24 that they identified the victim as Martha Basset, who was 33 at the time of her death.

Basset, a member of the Native American community from Wapato, Yakima, was reportedly born in Washington and relocated to Chicago in 1960 as part of the Indian Relocation Act. Basset's family allegedly lost contact with her by 1967. Authorities said her relatives traveled to Chicago to find her, but their efforts were unsuccessful, and they returned home.

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