40 Years Ago
About 40 years ago, Misty LaBean’s mother Connie Christensen disappeared from Wisconsin. She left her one-year-old daughter, LaBean, in the process.
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Christensen’s family assumed that she had run away, once again. In her teens, she had run away before. At one point, Christensen had even joined a carnival. So, her family assumed that she had simply left her family behind, as she had done in the past.
LaBean’s Childhood
As a result of her mother’s disappearance, LaBean grew up without her mother. For much of her life, LaBean couldn’t understand why her mother wasn’t around.
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Unfortunately, her family didn’t openly talk about Christensen, as they were so hurt by her departure.
LaBean’s Questioning
As LaBean got older — and eventually became a mother herself — her questioning about her mother’s disappearance didn’t end.
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“After my own kids were born, I was like, how could she have left me like that?” LaBean explained. “I would never do that to my kids.”
A Strange Phone Call
About 40 years after her mother’s disappearance, LaBean got a strange phone call from someone she had never met before.
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This phone call was the key to finally uncovering the story of her mother’s disappearance. LaBean could finally get some kind of closure.
A 1982 Murder
Lauren Ogden, the chief deputy coroner of Wayne County Coroner’s Office in Indiana, was the one to make a call to LaBean. In this call, Ogden explained that they had finally been able to get DNA from a body that was found in 1982.
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By using genealogy services, they found a connection between this body and LaBean. Ogden wanted to finally, once and for all, allow this body to be buried and given back to the family.
Connie Christensen’s Death
In December of 1982, hunters found the remains of a body in east central Indiana. Though they immediately notified the authorities, the coroner’s office was never able to properly identify the victim.
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The body was found in an area that was mainly only used for farming and hunting. Because the area had recently flooded during this time, the body was completely damaged.
New Technology
Because the remains could not be properly identified, the body was stored at the University of Indianapolis. However, the coroner’s office continued to try to identify this victim.
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Eventually, the advancement of new technology allowed investigators to try to extract DNA from the remains in 2021.
First Few Failures
Unfortunately, the coroner’s office saw repeated failures during their first few DNA extractions. These extractions didn’t have enough genetic material to properly create a DNA profile of the victim.
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However, once the team tried to extract DNA from the body’s foot bone, they were finally successful.
Using DNA Databases
The team then used this DNA extraction and ran it through a DNA database in an effort to find the family of this body. Christensen’s family had recently started to use genealogy sites to better fill out their family trees, resulting in some of them sending in their DNA.
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Soon, investigators were able to find a match between this body and Christensen’s family. They also soon realized that Christine Christensen had seemingly disappeared from public record.
Reaching out to LaBean
Eventually, this led to Ogden reaching out to LaBean. Finally, the match was made. The body found in 1982 was Christine Christensen, LaBean’s mother.
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Investigators were able to talk to LaBean about her mother’s case and how they finally were able to discover her identity. They also revealed to LaBean that her mother had died from a gunshot wound.
Some Closure, Yet More Questions
LaBean was able to bury her mother’s body with her relatives and parents. Though some closure about her mother has occurred, LaBean has more questions about how her mother died — and who killed her. She’s hoping publicity will help solve her mother’s murder.
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“In some ways, it makes me feel a little bit better,” LaBean explained. “But it also makes me angry because I could have had the chance to know her, and somebody took that chance away from me.”