Remains found in Durham in 2016 identified as woman missing for over 15 years

Durham Police announced Wednesday that DNA technology has helped them identify human remains found in 2016 as a woman who has been missing for over 15 years.

But the case remains open, and police did not identify a person of interest, cause of death or motive.

The woman is Melissa “Missy” Ann Poitra, Durham police said. She was a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, according to Native News Online. The tribe is based in Belcourt, North Dakota.

Police found her skeletal remains in a storage unit on Carpenter Fletcher Road that was being cleaned out, but it took years to positively identify her.

In 2019, the department released sketches from the FBI of a woman that they hoped would help identify her. Police said then that the remains had been in the storage unit for up to 10 years. The woman was 25 to 35 years old, police said then.

When the remains were found Oct. 22, 2016, Poitra’s sister, Jessica Poitra, suspected that they were Missy’s, Native News Online reports. The woman in the sketch has a gap in her teeth, and so did Missy, Jessica Poitra told Native News Online.

In November, Durham Police issued a missing person alert for Poitra, who would have been 42 then. Police said while investigating an unrelated case, they “learned that Poitra has not been in contact with her family for many years and they are trying to locate her.”

Native News Online reports that Poitra was living with her boyfriend in Durham when she disappeared in 2005.

Durham police said she was known to “frequent the East Durham area.”

According to a GoFundMe established by Poitra’s sister, police learned the remains were of Native American descent in late 2020, and Poitra’s father was contacted to test his DNA against those of the discovered remains.