More than six years after skeletal remains were discovered in a wooded area of North Carolina, authorities have identified the victim as a mother who vanished without ever being reported missing.
On Wednesday, Dec. 31, the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that remains found 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, close to the Winston-Salem home where she once lived.
During a press conference, Sgt. Chris King said a forensic anthropologist determined soon after the discovery that the remains had likely been exposed to the elements for four to seven months. Despite these findings, no missing person report had been filed for Medina Trejo at that 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.
Officials said a hunter found the remains on Sept. 10, 2019, while walking through the woods behind the old RV dealership. In the days that followed, detectives recovered parts of a skull and pelvis, vertebrae, and several arm and leg bones.
Because of the condition of the remains, investigators were initially unable to obtain usable DNA. Multiple investigative leads went nowhere, leaving the woman unidentified for years.
In December 2022, the sheriff’s office partnered with the DNA Doe Project, a nonprofit focused on identifying unknown victims through investigative genetic genealogy. After successfully developing a DNA profile, genealogists determined the woman was Hispanic and traced her lineage to a distant relative.
The wooded area in Rural Hall, N.C., where human remains were discovered. Google Earth
According to the organization, that relative 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 follow-up DNA test confirmed 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 continue working to determine what happened, many questions remain.
In a statement, Major Lane Koontz said the identification “only marks the first step in bringing justice to the family,” adding that the sheriff’s office will continue pursuing all available leads until the case is officially closed. He noted that, like all death investigations, the case will be treated as a homicide unless evidence shows otherwise.
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