35 Years Later, Victim Of PA Turnpike Crash Identified

PENNSYLVANIA — Decades after an unidentified 26-year-old woman died in a crash on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, investigators have finally uncovered her name.

It was Oct. 22, 1987 when a tractor-trailer smashed into the fuel tank of a semi-trailer truck in the eastbound lanes of turnpike in Somerset County. It happened near mile marker 119.4, in Stonycreek Township.

The driver, a man from California, was killed. He was immediately identified. But extensive investigation could not identify the woman he was with. A true lead did not emerge until Aug. 2022, when the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission agreed to pay for forensic genetic genealogy DNA testing.

Othram, a private forensic evidence laboratory, worked with state authorities on the search, prodcuing a geneological profile for the victim using DNA from the crash.

The woman was finally identified as Linda Jean McClure. Little is known about her, save that her family had not spoken with her since the 1980s and that she was never reported missing to law enforcement.

"There were many obstacles in this case but none that deterred the outcome," Pennsylvania State Police Major Michael Carroll, Commander of PSP Area II, said in a statement. "I commend the troopers who remained dedicated to their duty and ultimately brought closure to this case."

Officials said they were able to confirm her identity when her brother submitted a DNA sample for comparison.

McClure's family told investigators they last communicated with her in the late 1980s. She was not reported as missing to law enforcement. Her brother submitted a DNA sample for comparison, which confirmed McClure was the victim of the crash.