BREVARD COUNTY, Florida — Nearly four decades after a woman’s remains were discovered in a wooded area of Malabar, Fla., investigators have confirmed she was Jeanette Marcotte, a Canadian woman last seen in Saskatchewan in the early 1980s.
The identification was announced Jan. 30 through a law-enforcement media release published on DNAsolves.com, which works directly with law enforcement and distributes official statements on behalf of law enforcement agencies. The release was issued on behalf of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, and the District 18 Medical Examiner’s Office.
Before Marcotte disappeared, she planned to travel to Vancouver, British Columbia. She was never seen again. Three years later, in January 1985, skeletal remains were found in a dense, rural area of Malabar, a small community on Florida’s Atlantic coast. Officers determined the woman was between 20 and 50 years old and was between 5 feet and 5-foot-7.
With no identification and few clues, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office and the District 18 medical Examiner’s Office opened an investigation but were unable to determine who the woman was. The case went cold and was entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) as UP116034.
The break came in 2024, when the FDLE secured federal funding through the U.S. Bureau of Justice Administration’s Missing and Unidentified Human Remains Program. Working with the sheriff’s office and medical examiner, FDLE submitted forensic evidence to Othram, a Texas-based laboratory specializing in advanced DNA testing for law enforcement.
Using Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing, Othram scientists developed a comprehensive DNA profile that allowed the FDLE’s forensic genetic genealogy team to conduct a genealogical search. The results generated new investigative leads, ultimately enabling investigators to confirm the woman’s identity as Marcotte. She had been listed as missing from Vancouver, B.C.
According to information shared with investigators, Marcotte had been living in Western Canada before her disappearance and was last seen in Saskatchewan in 1981 or 1982, three years before her remains were found in Florida. She reportedly intended to head west to Vancouver, but what happened after that remains unknown.
Marcotte’s case is the 51st publicly announced identification in Florida made possible through Othram’s forensic genealogy sources. Officials say expanding the pool of available consumer DNA data continues to play a critical role in resolving long-unsolved cases.
Investigators didn’t release details about Marcotte’s cause of death, and the circumstances surrounding how she ended up in Florida are unknown.
