Wanda Ann Herr

In 1976, Wanda Ann Herr went missing from a group home in Gresham, Oregon. She was known to be a chronic run-away and was never reported missing. 10 years later, in 1986, a partial skull, some bone fragments, and a tooth were found near Government Camp off U.S. 26. The remains were found in Mount Hood by two Forest Service Workers. After more than a week from when the remains were found, a forensic examiner stated that the remains either belonged to a young lady, or a small man; the remains had been in the forest for at least 10 years.

After two decades, a state-forensic anthropologist re-examined the remains in 2008 confirming that the bones belonged to a female in her late teens or early 20s. In 2019, the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office was given a grant to conduct a DNA analysis on over 100 sets of unidentified remains; the skull found in Mount Hood being one of them. The DNA analysis from the skull lead to the female being of Northern European descent, with freckles, brown hair, hazel/brown eyes and fair skin. The sheriff’s office stated, “This new info, combined with extensive genealogical research, soon revealed a likely name for the young woman: Wanda Ann Herr, born in 1957.”