Woman Found Dead in Portland Over a Decade Ago Identified as South Korean National

The Maine Office of the Chief Medical Examiner identified the body of a woman on Tuesday more than a decade after she was found dead in Portland.

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In 2015, a woman was found dead on Portland’s East End Beach. For over a decade, the woman was known only as Jane Doe Portland.

The Medical Examiner’s office has worked since then attempting through various methods to identify the woman.

Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Detective Sergeant Dan Reed created an approximate sketch of the woman, her fingerprints were submitted to the FBI, and DNA samples were submitted to the FBI Combined DNA Index System(CODIS).

None of those methods produced any possible identification.

Eventually, the medical examiner submitted the woman’s DNA to the DNA Doe Project, a project dedicated to conducting genetic testing to help identify unidentified remains.

They conducted a genetic genealogical test and attempted to find possible relatives. Through their testing, the project determined that the woman was likely South Korean but was not able to positively identify her.

Detective Andjelko Napijalo of the Portland Police Department contacted South Korean authorities and sent them the woman’s fingerprints.

South Korean police searched through their records and matched the fingerprints to those of Byung Ran Kim, 66, whose last known residence was in New York.

Her family in South Korea has been notified.

Police did not say whether they believe foul play was involved in Kim’s death.