In 1999, the skeletal remains of a young woman were discovered in a rural field in Wisconsin. She had clearly suffered years of abuse yet no one knew her name, her story, or where she had come from.

That changed in 2019 when genetic genealogy finally identified her as Peggy Lynn Johnson, a vulnerable woman who had disappeared decades earlier.

Her identification revealed a heart breaking life marked by exploitation and isolation and ultimately led to the arrest of a suspect more than 20 years after her death.

In this episode, we examine how forensic genealogy restored Peggy’s identity, the disturbing circumstances of her life before her death, and how modern technology is rewriting the fate of long-forgotten cases.