YAVAPAI COUNTY, AZ — UPDATE: The fundraising goal for this case was reached within 24 hours. Still, authorities are working to identify “Little Miss Nobody." Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Cold Case Investigator John Shannon at 928-777-7293 or leave a tip anonymously by calling Yavapai Silent Witness at 1-800-932-3232 (reference agency case #1960 or NamUs UPID10741).
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The remains of “Little Miss Nobody” were discovered in the desert in 1960, and today officials are hoping to raise money to help identify the little girl.
Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office says the remains were found by a school teacher looking for rocks in Sand Creek Wash near Congress, Arizona, on July 31, 1960. Investigators determined the body, believed to be that of a girl between 3 and 6 years old, had been burned. She was likely dead for a week or two prior to the discovery.
The remains were partially buried, but no other signs of trauma were obvious. A set of adult shoe prints and other areas of disturbed soil were found by investigators, but the evidence didn't lead to much.
The death was ruled a homicide but no suspects were ever identified.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children says the child "had brown hair and was found wearing a checkered blouse and white shorts. She was also wearing a pair of adult-sized sandals (flip-flop style) that had been cut down to fit her. Her fingernails and toenails were also painted."
YCSO says the community raised money to provide a funeral for the unidentified child that year. Her remains were exhumed in 2018 for DNA samples to be taken.
Last year, YCSO partnered with Othram, a private laboratory with the goal of solving these types of cases. Through DNASolves, a fundraising site to raise money for case investigations, officials are hoping to raise $4,000 to have "Little Miss Nobody's" DNA further tested. They so far have $1,000 raised by YCSO.
"What we've wanted to do for 62 years is just give this little girl a name. If nothing else, be able to give her a last name and bury her with a proper headstone with her last name on it," said Lt. Tom Boelts with YCSO.
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Cold Case Investigator John Shannon at 928-777-7293 or leave a tip anonymously by calling Yavapai Silent Witness at 1-800-932-3232 (reference agency case #1960 or NamUs UPID10741).
