Nearly four decades after an Oklahoma woman was fatally shot and discovered covered in lime by a river, investigators have used genetic genealogy to identify the woman only known as 'Lime Lady.'

The Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office said in a press conference Thursday that the woman is 21-year-old Tamara Lee Tigard.

Authorities say new technology presented by the DNA Doe Project, a group that uses genetic genealogy to identify John and Jane Does, was key to unlocking the case.

Tamara Lee Tigard, referred to as 'Lime Lady' for nearly four decades, was identified by Oklahoma deputies in 2020

Tigard's body was initially discovered near North Canada River in Eastern Oklahoma County on her birthday, April 18, 1980, after being reported missing one month earlier.

She did not have any form of identification on her person at the time, prompting her to be known as 'Lime Lady' after investigators concluded her killer attempted to 'destroy evidence and speed up the decaying process for her body.'

Police believed Tigrad, of California, had been shot at a different location before a suspect moved her body to the river bank.

Capt. Bob Green worked Tigard's case 'on and off' since he picked up in 2008.

Green said: 'I always just wanted to bring dignity to the victim in this case. All of these years she has been gone without a trace, with none of her family or acquaintances knowing what happened to her. I just couldn’t give up, and now we know who she is.'

Green said investigators theorized Tigard's age ranged from 18 to 25 years old and discovered she had a distinctive tattoo of a heart above her left breast.

Capt. Bob Green (center) said he worked with the DNA Doe Project, a group the uses genetic genealogy to identify John and Jane Does, to identify the woman

During his renewed search, Green and assisting deputies exhausted all resources to identify the woman.

That's when Green decided to take an 'unconventional' approach and contacted DNA Doe Project in September 2018.

Green's team collected Tigrad's DNA samples, a blood stain and oral swab, from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation before forwarding those items to DNA Doe Project.

During a nine-month process to create a profile with the DNA samples, it was learned that Tigrad at one point lived in Las Vegas, Nevada, and served in the Army.

OCSO “Lime Lady” News Conference DNA LEADS TO IDENTIFICATION OF OCSO COLD CASE UNSOLVED MURDER VICTIM KNOWN AS THE “LIME LADY” https://sheriff.oklahomacounty.org/244/Lime-Lady (Oklahoma City) The Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office announced a huge break in a cold case unsolved murder. The identification of one of the agency’s most publicized “Jane Doe” homicides finally has been accomplished with the assistance of the DNA Doe Project’s volunteer genealogists and the Oklahoma Medical Examiner’s Office. “This has been an extremely difficult case for our agency,” said Oklahoma County Sheriff PD Taylor. “One that has been frustrating, but a case we never gave up on, specifically our Investigations Division Captain Bob Green, he has continuously worked the case, and his relentless efforts have paid off.” Nearly 40-years ago on April 18, 1980 Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the scene of a murder in Eastern Oklahoma County along the North Canadian River. The body of a young woman, whom we now know to be 21-year old Tamara Lee Tigard of California, was found covered in lime. She had no identification her body and was found the day of her 21st birthday. The initial investigation determined Tigard was shot at a different location, then her body taken to the river site. Investigators used traditional techniques attempting to identify Tigard, but all efforts failed. Investigators called her the “Lime Lady” due to the murderer’s attempt to destroy evidence and speed up the decaying process for her body with lime. The killer’s lime strategy actually ended up helping to preserve Tigard’s body. “I always just wanted to bring dignity to the victim in this case,” said Captain Bob Green. “All of these years she has been gone without a trace, with none of her family or acquaintances knowing what happened to her. I just couldn’t give up, and now we know who she is due to the hard work of the DNA Doe Project with assistance from the Oklahoma Medical Examiner’s Office, and I am so thankful for their efforts in helping us in this case.” The DNA Doe Project uses sophisticated DNA techniques and was able to create a candidate profile that took nearly 9 months of challenging processing to complete. “DDP wishes to acknowledge in addition to OCSO the contributions of those groups and individuals who helped solve this case: the University of North Texas for providing DNA samples; Hudson Alpha Discovery for processing the DNA; Dr. Greg Magoon, Research Engineer, Aerodyne Research Corp., contracting through Full Genomes Corp., for his work in bioinformatics; and GEDmatch for providing their database.” – The DNA Doe Project Through this process it was discovered Tigard had also lived in Nevada, and had even served in the U.S. Army. The Oklahoma Medical Examiner’s Office assisted in securing military medical records of Tigard which helped positively identify her. “Now she can be properly recognized,” said Captain Green, “her life has meaning and we can respectfully honor her.” Posted by Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office on Thursday, 30 January 2020

Authorities say Tigrad's immediate family - her parents and brother - are deceased, but her closest match was a second cousin, once removed.

Local medical examiner's were able to secure military records, like dental records, to help identify Tigrad.

Green said: 'Now she can be properly recognized. Her life has meaning, and we can respectfully honor her.'

The investigation into finding her killer is ongoing.