This individual was recently confirmed to have been identified. Some details may change as more information is released publicly.
Betty Lou Japel was a woman whose remains were found in 2008 in a shallow grave near US Route 95 in rural Churchill County, Nevada. Her cause of death was determined to be multiple gunshot wounds.
She was identified by Othram in February 2024.
Background[]
Japel and her partner Kenneth Miller were originally from McMinnville, Oregon. They were RVers who led a nomadic lifestyle, often traveling in their motor home for weeks.
Case[]
They were last seen alive in 2006, when they lived in Quartzsite, Arizona. Later that year, their motor home was found abandoned in a remote area near Redmond, Oregon. A search of the area in June 2007 led to the discovery of Miller's remains in a shallow grave nearby. Their Dodge pickup truck was abandoned in Montana.
The couple had befriended a felon named Gregory Cole, who is suspected of having murdered them. Cole was involved in a shoot-out with a police officer in Quartzsite, Arizona, in 2007. During the ensuing search, Cole died by suicide in the Arizona desert near the border with Mexico. His motor home was found to have licence plates taken from Japel and Miller's pickup truck.
Clothing and accessories[]
- Orange halter top.
Sources[]
- Betty Japel at the Charley Project
- DNASolves