More than six years after skeletal remains were found in a wooded area of North Carolina, authorities have identified the victim as a mother who disappeared without ever being reported missing.
On Wednesday, Dec. 31, the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office announced that remains discovered by a hunter in September 2019 belonged to Maria del Socorro Medina Trejo. The bones were located in a wooded area behind a former RV dealership, not far from the Winston-Salem home where she had lived.
During a press conference, Sgt. Chris King said a forensic anthropologist determined shortly after the discovery that the remains had likely been exposed to the elements for four to seven months. Despite the circumstances, no missing person report had been filed for Medina Trejo at the time.
“The circumstances surrounding Maria’s death and how she ended up where she was discovered are still actively being investigated,” King said, urging anyone with information to come forward.
According to officials, a hunter came across the remains on Sept. 10, 2019, while walking through the woods behind the old RV dealership. Over the following days, detectives recovered portions of a skull and pelvis, vertebrae, and multiple arm and leg bones.
Due to the condition of the remains, investigators were initially unable to extract usable DNA. Several investigative leads failed, leaving the woman unidentified for years.
In December 2022, the sheriff’s office partnered with the DNA Doe Project, a nonprofit that specializes in identifying unknown victims through investigative genetic genealogy. After a DNA profile was successfully developed, genealogists determined the woman was Hispanic and traced her lineage to a distant relative.
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That relative, according to the organization, was unaware that anyone in his family was missing. Months later, during a family gathering, he learned that a distant family member had disappeared. A subsequent DNA test confirmed that the remains belonged to Medina Trejo.
Born in 1976 in Zimapán, a town in west-central Mexico, Maria was believed to be 42 years old at the time of her death. As investigators work to piece together what happened, many questions remain unanswered.
In a statement, Major Lane Koontz said the identification marks “only the first step in bringing justice to the family,” adding that the sheriff’s office will continue pursuing all available leads until the case can be officially closed. He emphasized that, as with all death investigations, the case will be treated as a homicide unless evidence proves otherwise.
