Remains of 17-year-old identified after decades

VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) — The remains of a homicide victim found near Vancouver have been identified after 41 years.

The Vancouver Columbian reports that the remains, which were found in Dole Valley in 1974, have been identified as 17-year-old Martha Marie Morrison.

Clark County Medical Examiner's Office operations manager Nikki Costa says the identification was made after DNA swabs from Martha's sister and half-brother yielded a possible match. Then tissue samples from Martha Morisson's mother that were on file at a Springfield, Oregon, medical facility were tested.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children funded the exhumation of Martha Morrison's father who died in 1976 and compared DNA from the two sets of remains.

Martha Morrison was last seen leaving her Portland apartment after an argument in September 1974. The cause of death has not been determined.