Texas

Woman Missing Since 1974 Found in South Texas

The woman was living under an alias

An Indiana woman who had been missing since 1974 was found living in a South Texas town under an alias, according to police.

Indiana State Police said Lula Ann Gillespie-Miller, then 28 years old, thought she was too young to be a mother and signed custody of her three children to her parents in 1974. She then left home.

Detective Scott Jarvis took the case in 2014 after being contacted by the Doe Network, an organization that helps law enforcement close cold cases, according to police.

Jarvis requested DNA analysis on an unidentified woman found in Richmond in 1975 — Gillespie-Miller had sent her family a letter from Richmond in 1975. He also obtained a DNA sample from Gillespie-Miller's biological daughter, Tammy Miller, for comparison.

While awaiting the results of the DNA analysis, Jarvis began investigating a woman who lived in Tennessee in the 1980s and then later in Texas. Police said he tracked the woman to a small town in South Texas. The name of the town has not been released.

Police said Jarvis contacted Texas Rangers in the area Thursday and asked them to go to the woman's home. The woman admitted to the Rangers that she was Lula Gillespie-Miller, now 69 years old, living under an alias, which was not released.

Gillespie-Miller told Jarvis he could give her contact information to her daughter. Miller said she hopes to make contact with her mother.

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