By: Richard L. Smith
New Jersey State Police are asking for the public’s help identifying a young Black woman who was killed in East Orange more than four decades ago.
According to information reported by News 12 New Jersey, the unidentified woman was killed during a domestic violence incident on Eppirt Street in East Orange on September 14, 1984.
Authorities said people who knew the woman referred to her as “L.A.” or “Loranda,” but investigators have never been able to establish her true identity.
The case has now received renewed attention as investigators use modern forensic technology in hopes of finally determining who she was. Her remains were located and exhumed, allowing investigators to develop a new DNA profile.
The New Jersey State Police Missing Persons Unit is working with the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, East Orange Police Department and Ramapo College of New Jersey on investigative genetic genealogy.
Anyone who recognizes the woman or has information that could help establish her identity is asked to contact the New Jersey State Police Missing Persons Unit at 609-882-2000, extension 2554.