Placer County Sheriff’s Office Identifies Remains of 1990 Jane Doe Cold Case
PLACER COUNTY, CA — “In a breakthrough investigation, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office has officially identified the remains of a woman found in 1990 as Wendy Abrams-Nishikai. She was last seen on October 31st, 1989, at the age of 21. Her remains were discovered off an embankment on Yankee Jims Road in Colfax, CA, and had remained unidentified for over three decades.
The case, initially handled by the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, was deemed a Jane Doe cold case after investigators were unable to identify the decedent using the technology available at the time. Despite extensive efforts, the case went unsolved until the formation of the Placer County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Investigations team in 2023.
File Photo of Abrams-Nishikai – Courtesy of Placer County Sheriff’s Office
The Cold Case Investigations team, which includes investigators from the Placer County Sheriff’s Office and the Placer County District Attorney’s Office, reopened the case with a focus on utilizing advancements in technology and forensic genealogy. In 2024, the California Department of Justice Laboratory in Richmond, CA, successfully identified a likely next of kin through DNA analysis, linking the remains to a relative of a woman reported missing in 1989 from Berkeley, CA.
The Sheriff’s Cold Case Investigations team worked to obtain additional DNA samples from family members for further comparison. In January 2025, the remains were officially identified as Wendy Abrams-Nishikai. While her death is still under investigation and the case is ongoing, we hope this identification provides some closure to her surviving family members after 35 years of uncertainty.
The Placer County Sheriff’s Office is continuing its investigation into the circumstances surrounding her death and is urging anyone with information to contact us at PCSOTipLine@placer.ca.gov”
