Police said remains found in 1987 along a highway in Pennsylvania were identified in June 2020. They belonged to Donna Kay Griffin, who was 37 in 1987. A much younger Griffin is seen here.
State police say the body of a woman found more than three decades ago along an eastern Pennsylvania highway has been identified, but investigators still don't know how she ended up there.
Police in Northampton County say 37-year-old Donna Kay Griffin was the woman found by construction workers in Nazareth, Pa. in October 1987. She was found along Route 33 near the Belfast interchange.
State troopers said Friday that Griffin was never reported missing, but a DNA test linked her to her child. Troopers said she was originally from Dalton, Georgia, moved to the Philadelphia area in the 1970s and also used the last names Shelton and Linton.
District Attorney Terry Houck said investigators are still trying to figure out how Griffin wound up on the highway or where she had been prior to her death.
“We just have remains. We don’t know if it was foul play,” Houck said.
A county coroner ruled at the time that the victim had had a heart attack immediately before her death and ruled out foul play and drug involvement, but Houck indicated that authorities are reexamining the case to be certain.
State Police ask anyone with information or who might have known Griffin to call the Troop M Criminal Investigation Assessment Unit at 610-861-2026. Let them know you're calling about the incident report number M06-0314230.
